Angel With a Dragon
by LoverDreamerFighter
Summary: There's a Viking girl that's befriended a dragon does whatever she can to protect it. The dragon is everything she adores which means that it could get her tangled into a lot of trouble and can even get her stuck in a tough situation. How will she handle it? How will THEY handle it? Rated T for violence, blood and language. Inspired by Angel With a Shotgun by The Cabs.
1. Chapter 1

"Alyssa!" My father shouted from downstairs. I drew out a sigh and got up from my sitting position in my windowsill, then I walked downstairs. His angry, red face didn't amuse or excite me since I was used to seeing it.

"Where on earth is all of the food going?" He demanded. "You expect us to make it through this condition when you're stuffing yourself to the brim on the food that _I_, not you,_ I_ work so hard to get?!" He shouted at me and jabbed me in the stomach with his plump fingers in my feminine yet powerful body.

"You better tell me right now, you little disease-carrying mongrel!" He shouted while grabbing my hair and yanking me up a little.

"I swear to you that I have nothing to do with the food disappearance." I said a little angrily. I don't like to be aggressively handled and my dad crossed the line every time to where I'd snap at him and get beat or hit him and get beat harder.

Of course, he tossed me across the floor and knelt down to me, picking me up by the collar of my shirt. "You're a terrible liar. Why do you think that Monsterous Nightmare killed your mother that one night? That was all _your_ fault. Trying to help your ungrateful ass. She died for you and you repay me by eating all of the food in the damn house!"

I sighed irritably, "Mom's death wasn't my fault. You kicked her out of the house because you accused her of cheating, I went out to stop her. I tried to save her but there's only so much a six-year-old can do." I said the last words with thick venom. He gave me good, hard smack to the side of the head. "Shut the hell up! Get out of this house!" He shouted, picking me up and shoving me outside.

"But _dad_, that the ninth time this week." I sarcastically complained just to have a slamming door as a response. "Love you, too!" I called and walked off, over to see a good friend of mine; Gobber.

"Howdy, Gobber." I said, stepping into shop. "Need a hand?" I asked thoughtfully. Gobber pointed a hook at me, "Now, what kind of joke is that, lassie?" He said giving me a soft jab. I picked up a sword, "Not a joke. Just a figure of speech." I began to sharpen the sword.

"Gobber, was my mom's death... my fault?" I asked, my curiosity peeking. He turned around, "Oh, not this again." He said, placing a hand on one of my shoulders, "No matter what that scrap-chomping, man-witch father tells you; her death had absolutely nothing to do with you." He said. "That Monstorous Nightmare came out of nowhere. You know, she loved you very much."

"I know." I said. "But part of me felt like-like I could have helped. I know I was only a kid but ever since that night I've just felt so... guilty. I've felt like a burden to everyone."

"Lassie, stop listening to your father so much. Sure you can be irritable, a little mean, distant and... I'm not helping at all, am I?" Gobber asked. I gave a gesture for him to continue. "It's fine. Go on." I said. "Okay," Gobber said, "Like I was saying, you can be a bit harsh and pretty troublesome but underneath is a-uh... well, I'm not quite sure."

"Thanks for putting that puzzle together for me." I rolled my eyes sarcastically. Gobber walked past me, accidently bumping me and right after he did my hand slipped and I cut my palm right open. "Son of a troll!" I exclaimed. I watched the blood pour out, "Why me?" I asked.

"Hi, Gobber." A kind of nerdy voice said, walking into the blacksmith, I knew it was Hiccup. "Oh, Al. Hey, how are you?" He asked me.

"Bloody." I answered. He looked over my shoulder, "How'd that happen?" I showed the sword's slightly bloody blade, "Gobber bumped me and I sliced my hand open." Hiccup grabbed a clean cloth, "Wrap it up." He said, I smiled at him, "Thanks, Hic."

Hiccup began cleaning the bloodied sword, "Is it deep?" He asked. I looked back at him after wrapping my hand up. "Not really. Just enough to make me bleed. But hey, I'm a Viking. I can pull through worse." I said flexing my left arm, showing a few muscles. He grinned at me, "Good, because I can't have my only friend die." He put the sword away, pulling out other weapons to work on. I smiled as well, "Hey, if I leave you alone than you're pretty much done for." He narrowed his eyes a little, "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked. "Oh, nothing, my good friend. Nothing at all." I said and he rolled his eyes, going back to work.

After a nice day at work, Hiccup looked at me. "Want to go for a walk, Hic?" I asked him and he thought about it for a bit. "Go home to my angry father, go walking with my only friend. That's one to think about." He said, "Let's walk." I smiled, "You know, Hiccup, I had that same thought in my point-of-view 'Home with angry father, walk with my only friend.'" "Two peas in a pod, I guess." He said.

We walked through the woods for a while, just enjoying each other's company. In case you haven't caught on yet, I have a crush on Hiccup. He's been there for me ever since we were little and I could relate to him completely. He was someone that I could trust, drop my guard around. I could only wish that he felt the same way about me but as far as I was concerned, he didn't love me as anything more than maybe a best friend or a sister. His crush was Astrid.

Dark clouds above us began to rumble. I looked up at them, "Hiccup, we should head back. We could just sit around in the Grand Hall." Hiccup nodded, "Sure, let's go." He said.

As we were walking back, the sky grew almost black. It was so dark that you could barely see six feet in front of you. "Hiccup, stay close." I said and didn't hear anything but I knew he was there, I could feel his presence.

About half-way back, the rumbling got louder and a few lightning bolts shot out. It didn't faze me or Hiccup, we continued on our own way but that changed when a loud screech pierced the air.

"Night Fury." Hiccup said.

"Don't worry about it." I said, "They won't hurt us."

"How do you know that?" Hiccup asked skeptically and I pushed a branch out of the way, "Intuition." I said, Hiccup sighed, "Last time we trusted your intuition we got lost."

"Hiccup, that was seven years ago. Leave it alone." I said.

"I'm just eneasy about this whole thing." He said.

We walked along a cliff, watching the sky for anything suspicious. It didn't help when it began raining.

The loud screech of a Night Fury sounded out again. Bright flames that exploded after a short amount of time were fired all over the sky, as if the Night Furies were fighting something. Upon each explosion, there was only the shadowy outline of a few Monstorous Nightmares being attacked by speeding shadows and flames.

I stared off at the battle and so did Hiccup. The rain pounded down harder and the flames weren't as strong as they were before. Upon the lightning bolts a shadow got larger. It was fast.

"Hiccup, hit the ground!" I shouted and pushed him to the ground. Right after we got down, a large whoosh past us with an intense gust.

"Close encounter with a Night Fury." I said. "Not bad."

The shadows of the Monstorous Nightmares were flying toward us as well and stopped just by the cliff, noticing us and charging up their fire. I slowly got up to kneel, "Hiccup, I'm sorry about this." He looked at me, "No problem. You've been wrong before." I rolled my eyes, "Not that." I said and looked at the Nightmares that were ready to burn us to charcoal, I turned back to Hiccup. "This!" I said, pushing him off before jumping myself.

I watched Hiccup fall and hit the crashing water, I shut my eyes and waited to hit the water too but instead I hit something leathery, sleek yet rough and regardless of the freezing cold rain, it was warm. I opened my eyes and saw myself on a shadow.

It looked back at me, startled. With light reflecting off of its green eyes, they seemed to glow. This must be a Night Fury.


	2. Chapter 2

Me and the shadowy beast locked eyes and after what seemed like an eternity, the dragon began to speed up. It swerved quickly and flew upside down, attempting to shake me off. The Monstorous Nightmares stared at the Night Fury like it was the strangest beast that had ever existed and began to sneak off.

I would've let go sooner but the Night Fury flew higher than the cliff I'd pushed Hiccup off of. I had my arms wrapped around the sleek dragon's neck and held on for dear life. It let out a screech, frustrated that I wasn't coming loose.

The Night Fury flew in place in the air for a couple of seconds and turned downward towards the crashing ocean, dive-bombing straight for the water. For whatever reason, I was latched to the dragon and shot into the water but as soon as impact with the salty, icy water was made; I let go. I brought my head above the water and looked up, lightning flashed again and I saw the shadow of the beast was right above me, as if it was watching. Then there was a wave that pushed itself over my head and pushed me down a little, making me burst back up the water's surface. This time, when lightning flashed again, the black dragon was gone.

"Hiccup." I muttered, recapping everything that just happened in my head. "Hiccup!" I shouted, looking around. "Hiccup! Where are you?" I looked around, trying my best to see in the dark with an occasional flash of lighting. I began swimming, diving under the water, hoping to get a feel of him.

Who knows how long I was in the water, searching for him. On my last dive, I got the feel of something that felt like warm, wet leather that jerked at my touch. I backed up at the movement of the jerk and swam back above water, wondering what I'd just touched but I got my answer when lightning flashed a few times, allowing me to see a large, bright green, long-necked dragon that seemed to have a pouch in its throat. A Scauldron... just my luck.

It growled at me, causing the water pouch in its throat to ripple. I gulped, "Um, nice Scauldron?" I said but it sounded like a question. The water dragon glared at me and put its face near mine. "Hi." I said, grinning sheepishly before I did something else stupid, go back underwater. Hey, it wasn't like there was much of a choice.

I tried to navigate as quickly as I could to get away from that hot water balloon but sadly, being in an ocean at night will it's booming and pouring out won't get you far.

A hot rush of water passed by my side which got my adreniline going, getting me to swim faster. Another burst of hot water shot right above my head and I needed air again, shooting past the water's surface again. As I quickly gasped for air I saw a rock right next to me that I could crawl on top of.

I climbed on top of it and looked back to see if the dragon was there, sure enough, it was and I was about to jump off the rock but slipped and fell over the rock, the water shot above the rock. An idea occured to me, when you clamp a dragon's mouth shut it can't breathe fire. It should be the same for a Scauldron.

I swam around and wrapped by arms around the dragon's mouth. I panted as I finally thought I could take a breather but the Scauldron proved me wrong and shook its head, waving me around. I kept it clamped and it growled deeply, finally blowing steam through its nostrils and burning my stomach.

I let go immediately and fell into the cold water again, it stung my stomach where the steam had hit me. I must have been burnt. I looked for any alternative to get out of my sticky situation but there weren't many options other than keep swimming.

You gotta do what you gotta do and I kept swimming.

I turned back to the dragon who tried to shoot at me again but now only thin clouds of steam were coming out and they didn't look too powerful. It must have reached its shot limit; it just means that it's easier for me to get away now.

Just because it was out of fire-power or water-power or whatever didn't mean it still couldn't chase me.

"Can I _please_ just catch a break?!" I shouted and just as I did, a thin streak of lightning flashed by, right between the Scauldron and me, making my hair stand on end and the Scauldron to jump back in surprise. A Skrill now? Seriously?

It quickly turned into a good thing because the Skrill had accidentally, whacked the Scauldron with its tail, sending a small jolt through its body. The Scauldron averted its attention from me and attempted to fight the lightning-fast Skrill.

"Well, I guess that works too." I said surprised by my sudden luck.

I hated how long I had to swim, it was getting tiresome and to be honest, I didn't want to encounter another Scauldron or any other sea dragon. My eyes lit up when I saw a stony beach, I got there as fast as I could, dragging myself along the pebbles until I felt a stinging sensation again, I'm going to have to take care of that burn later.

I curled up and began clutching handfuls of hair, feeling like I was going insane. "He died because of me." I said, referring to Hiccup. "I killed the one person that's most important to me. I never even got to say that... say that... I..." I began pounding a fist to my forehead the farther I trailed off, as I did a comforting hand landed on my shoulder.

"Who died? What happened? What's going on?" A sort of soft, nerdy voice asked, my eyes widened. "You mean, I didn't..." I looked back and saw Hiccup staring at me with concern in his eyes. "You're alive!" I said happily, hugging him tightly.

"Of course I'm alive." Hiccup said, "But I don't appreciate you shoving me off a cliff into freezing waters or you pulling me out by my leg but you saved me so thank you." I cocked an eyebrow, "I didn't drag you out, Hiccup." He looked confused, "Then who did? You know, now that I think about it; it kind of makes sense that you didn't because whoever it was left right after I was on land." He placed a finger to his chin, "Who could it have been?" I looked at the sky, "Or what could it have been?" I asked.

I noticed Hiccup shiver, "We should get you home." I said, grabbing his arm and tugging him gently. "You're probably going to get sick." We began to trudge, "You were in the water longer than I was." Hiccup said, "Listen, you're important to me. I don't want anything to happen to you." I said.

We finally got back to the village and Hiccup began sneezing furiously. "Hiccup, you're sick." I said. He shook his head and sneezed again. I gave him concerned eyes and lifted him in my arms, bridal style. My burn began to sting more. He looked at me with a shocked expression, "I c-c-can w-walk, you k-know." He said, teeth chattering from the cold.

I ingnored him and brought him up to his house, kicking the door open, Stoic stared at us. "Where have you two been?" He demanded. I placed Hiccup near the fire to warm up and sat with him, "We went out for a walk and fell off a cliff." True enough.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You kids." Was all he said and he threw more wood on the fire. "You two warm up. Alyssa, if you don't want to go home, you can stay here for the night." He said before walking upstairs.

Stoic usually lets me stay with them since he knows all of the trouble that I go through at home even though he pretty much puts Hiccup through the same thing but Stoic was still kinder than my father.

Another stinging sensation ripped through my abs, I hissed and stood up quickly. It was getting to be too much. Hiccup got up, "What's wrong?" I would have clutched my stomach but it would've burned more than it already did.

"Hiccup, do you guys have anything for burns?" I asked him. His eyes widened, "What happened?" I didn't want to say anything more so instead I decided to show him. I lifted my shirt a little past the belly button. His eyes were gigantic.

"H-h-hold on." He said, putting his hands on my shoulders, "I'll go get some aloe." Then he took off into the kitchen, fumbling through cabinets, searching for the aloe vera. Finally, he pulled out a sort of spiky plant, cut it open with a thin knife and ran over to me.

"Here, lay down." He said, gesturing to the couch. I did as I was told and he lifted my shirt to where he could see the entire burn on my stomach. It stretched from perhaps an inch or two from the breasts and ended just above my pants. As I said before, I can trust Hiccup.

"How'd this happen?" He asked, rubbing the gel from the aloe on his palms. I sighed, "Looking for you. A Scauldron got to me." He looked guilty as he began rubbing the gel on me. "The good news is, the burn's not that deep so it doesn't require anything serious. It's just wide." He smiled guiltily at me, I smiled genuinely at him. "Don't blame yourself." He gave me a shocked expression, "You were pulled ashore, besides if you did stay in the water, I probably wouldn't have found you. I barely saw the Scauldron but I only got to see it because of the lightning."

"Was it scary?" Hiccup asked, still rubbing the cooling gel in. I thought about it, "Not really. I think it was because I was so caught up with just wanting to get away from it to find you." He smiled, "Well, that's kind of you. I mean, you've always been a good friend to me. I can't imagine it any other way."

Ow. My poor heart.

"Hiccup, are we done yet?" I asked, "No." He said, placing a patch of cloth over the burn. "Geez, you're so impatient." I shook my head, "Am not." I denied. "Are too." He said, pushing on my shoulder; trying to tell me to sit up, "Keep your shirt up." He added. I sat up and kept my shirt up, "No, I'm not." I continued to deny. "Stage one of acceptance: denial." He said, tying the cloth to me. When he was done, I dropped my shirt.

Hiccup sat up with me, his back somewhat dry from pointing it at the fire. Hiccup's hair still wet in front but the hair on the back of his head stood up the way it usually does. His face was practically glowing as were his lovely eyes. I could have easily been placed in a trance until Hiccup noticed me staring.

"What's wrong? You seem a little dazed. Maybe _you're_ the one getting sick, after all; _you're _the one that ended up with a burn." He said. I shook my head, "No, it's fine." He got up, "I'll get some quilts." He took off upstairs and came back a moment later with two thick quilts. He threw one around me and wrapped the other around himself.

He sneezed again, "Bless you." I said, "Thanks." He replied. "I'm just glad you didn't sneeze while cleaning my burn." I said, smirking. "Shut up." He muttered, turning towards the fire.

I kept thinking about the Night Furies, Hiccup falling or rather being shoved into the ocean, what a close encounter that had been. I continued to wonder: What saved Hiccup? Could it have been one of the dragons? If so, why would they do it? If they did help then why come help Vikings; the very beings that were out to kill them for social status? It made no sense.

Hiccup noticed me in deep thought, "What's wrong? You seem a little out of it again."

I looked at him, "Hiccup, what did you feel when you were pulled out of the water?" He gave me a confused expression, "What brought that up?" He asked and I shrugged, "Just curious." He nuzzled into the quilt, "Kind of rough but it held my leg gently like it wouldn't hurt me. That's why I thought it was you." I chucked a slab of wood into the fire. "Thanks. I guess."

He seemed like he wanted to ask something himself, "Hey, Al, what... what took you so long to come down?" He asked, I thought about it, "I landed on a dragon's back coming down." I said, his eyes widened "Well, that's convienant." He said, "How was it? Terrifying?" He asked, I thought about it, "Hiccup, actually it felt... kind of nice. Like that was supposed to happen. I wish that it could have lasted longer but sadly no."

He seemed marveled, "That's weird. Well, you are a weird girl not that that's bad or anything, though. So... which dragon did you land on? The orange Monstorous Nightmare, the yellow one, the Scauldron?" He asked curiously. "More like Night Fury." I said and his head shot up. "What?" He asked, breathless.

"Night Fury." I repeated. "I landed on a Night Fury." He stood up and grabbed my shoulders, "Are you kidding?" He practically shouted with a smile and I put a finger to his lips, "Shh!" I said and he looked behind him and back at me, before mouthing 'Sorry'. He sat back down, "Don't you know what this means? It means we can finally be noticed around here. We can kill that Night Fury!" He said in a whisper.

I gave a slight scowl as he continued talking, "We can sky-rocket up the popularity chain! Life will be so good for us, people will finally appreciate us!" He said, holding my shoulders with the widest grin. "If we could just capture it now that we've had a close encounter with it-"

"We aren't killing the Night Furies, Hiccup." I said boldly. He looked at me, "What?" I sat straight up, "Hiccup, we will never be able to catch them and if we could, couldn't they just burn through the ropes or tear them apart and what if someone is wandering out there and gets to the dragon before us? Then we'd _really_ be screwed, they'd take the credit for finding _and_ killing it." I ranted and Hiccup thought about it. "You _do_ have a point." He said, thinking about it again. "We probably shouldn't mention this to anyone else." He said and I gave a curt nod.

"Well," He said awkwardly after a moment, "I guess we should get to bed now. You know, since we're pretty much dry and physically exhausted." I nodded, "Right. If you need me, you'll know where I'll be." I said, lying down and cuddling the blanket. Hiccup took off upstairs and about halfway there he turned back to me, "Good night." He said sweetly and I smiled, "Good night, Hiccup."

It didn't take long before I drifted off.


	3. Chapter 3

_ I walked past the cliff where Hiccup and I had walked not too long ago. It was brighter today. It seemed to be a bit more peaceful. I took a deep breath of the cool air and got a sudden burst of energy. I leapt over a fallen tree and swung on the branch of another tree. A gust of wind passed over my head and I looked up. Night Fury._

_ There was no fear in my heart as I jumped onto its back. It shot a joyous flame into the air and flew over the cliff. It spiraled and purred. I laughed in absolute joy. I was flying on the back of a dragon that pretty much no one had seen! __**Flying on it!**_

_ It was a simple thing that turned this whole thing viral. A shadowy figure came toward us and the Night Fury growled. I tried to angle the dragon away from the shadow but it flew directly into it. I tried to let go but my arms were latched to the Night Fury._

_ The shadow opened what I'm assuming was its mouth, exposing extremely large, sharp teeth. I winced as I heard a loud bang... I was terrified but not for myself. For the Night Fury._

_ Another loud bang and things suddenly began to turn into dust and fly away. I looked towards the dragon whom was determined to fight until the end. Another loud bang and the dragon disappeared. My heart pounded in my chest, causing a terrible banging noise._

_ It made me wonder; was it I that had done this? How did this happen? Why'd this happen?_

_ One last bang and I saw myself began to turn into dust; beginning at my feet. I saw my hips disappear before my eyes and stared at my hands, they began blowing away. I tried to scream but nothing came out. All that was heard was a bang._

I woke up. There was a loud banging at the front door, rattling most items along the wall. Stoic and Hiccup ran downstairs, alarmed. "What's going on?" Stoic demanded, I shrugged and shook my head, "I just woke up to this." I said, glaring at the door.

The door was suddenly kicked open by my father, I glared the most ragged daggers at him.

"Stoic, what the hell are you doing with my daughter here?!" My father shouted. Hiccup gave me a sad glance. I stepped up to my father, "They let me stay here. It was my desicion, take your anger out on me." I said boldly. He picked me up by the back of my shirt, "I'm going to start chaining you up, you damn wench!" He said, shoving me outside. I looked back at Hiccup and put my head down a little, "Sorry." I mouthed to him and he nodded and bit his lip, understanding.

I froze up when Stoic angrily stepped up to my father.

"I'm pretty sure that she can make her _own_ desicions, Slade." Stoic said. "She's a young woman and can damn well take care of herself, you might notice if you did more with her than beat her around like a stuffed dragon head! She's your child and should be cherished while she remains one!"

My father never liked being denied and stepped closer to Stoic, almost chest-to-chest. "Don't tell me how to raise my kid. You raise yours no different so don't even start with me!"

I stood in front of my father, back towards Stoic, "Stop it. Now." I demanded. "I'll go home but knock off your flocking crap." I hissed the last words which got my mouthy, smartass thrown against the table near the wall, breaking it and several items on it.

Hiccup's eyes were wide and his breathing sped up, Stoic glared at my father, grabbing him by the hem of his shirt. "Get out of my house. I don't want you wandering into my property ever again. I want you gone. In fact, leave Berk. You don't deserve to live with us. To share our food, to breathe our air." My father stared at him for a moment before swinging a punch at him.

Hiccup and I jumped at the action as a fierce battle that quickly ensued between the two large Vikings. I began picking myself up from the ground, almost frozen along the wall and I knew something had to be done. I looked all over the room, not much. I looked down at the broken table, seeing how one of the legs broke in half. It just might help.

I made my way down to pick up a broken table leg and looked back at the fight, Stoic being the largest Viking, obviously had the upper-hand until my dad hit him with a cheap shot; below the belt. Stoic doubled over a little and my father took advantage of that and pinned him, beating him ruthlessly.

My hands shook a little and I drove the broken table leg into my father's back. He stopped his attack immeadiately and turned to look at me, my hands were covered in his blood, I tried to pull the leg out but it was stuck. He began getting up and Stoic pulled him back down but because of the angle, my father had landed on his back, the leg impaled him through his chest.

I panted and my back fell against the wall, I stared at my hands. The warm liquid on them, dripping all around my feet. I looked up at Hiccup who was staring at my father's corpse and slowly looked at the ground then at me. I looked at Stoic, he simply glanced at the body and then to me.

I wanted to run by legs froze up, Stoic stepped up to me and my breathing increased. I shut my eyes, expecting to be brutally beat or perhaps exiled for killing one of our own. I waited for impact and when it came, it wasn't what I had expected. It was a hand on my shoulder. My eyes shot open and I looked up at Stoic, he gave me a gentle stare.

It could have been enough for me to burst into tears.

"That took a lot of courage. I'm sorry about... that." Stoic said. "No one intended for that to happen but... I can really say that I'm proud of how brave you were for doing what you did. Not many people can stand up to family... let alone kill them but that usually involves some sort of problem in the past. I know that I said you're a woman but looking at you now... I see a child again but then again, no one can be tough all of the time. I'll let this slide, especially since it was an accident but guaranteed, it won't be forgotten."

The strange thing is, if the outcome of this fight was different and Stoic died instead of my father; the last words would have been exactly the same. There would only be one difference; you'd be dead.

I staggered over to the couch and wrapped my arms around myself. I stared at the charcoal in the fireplace. I looked over the events in my head over and over.

Stoic walked behind me and I heard a dragging noise and the door shut. Hiccup stared at me, like a child would stare at a hungry wolf that had just pounced on them. I turned my face away from him, I was just waiting to be cast aside.

After a while, a slight scuffle on the floorboards caught my attention and I looked over at Hiccup, he froze when I looked at him. This was really hurting me; the fact that he was afraid to approach me. It was understandable, though. It took me a while to wrap my head around what I'd done, I can't blame him.

I turned my head again and after a few seconds that felt like hours, I felt something warm wrap around me. I opened my eyes, seeing strands of red-brown hair next to my face. I couldn't take it and practically collapsed into Hiccup's small frame. The reality of what I'd done and what might happen... it shook me. It broke my tough demeanor completely.

Hiccup rubbed my back soothingly but only for a second before back away quickly. There was a soft blush on his face but it could've been anything, the excitement, more than likely. I looked at him, mouth open, ready to say something but for some reason the words were stuck in my throat.

He stiffened when my mouth opened.

"I never meant to do this. I didn't ask for this to happen." I said, finally forming words. Hiccup nodded, "I know. No one ever really does, do they? I can't even imagine." He said sympathetically, staring at me with sad eyes. I cleaned my tears just as Stoic walked back in.

"I'll clean up my mess." I said, getting up. Stoic stared at me and shut the door, Hiccup just dropped his eyes to the ground. I began clearing everything that I broke upon being thrown against the table. Stoic was already back upstairs and Hiccup was scrubbing the blood from the floor, he looked sick.

"Hiccup, I said I'd clean it." I said, he looked up, "You don't have to help, I'll take care of it." He looked to the side, "It's just... I don't know." He said. I finished cleaning the broken table and everything near it and made my way over to him. I knelt down, picking up a wet cloth, cleaning the blood with him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing how sick he still looked and he shook his head, "It's nothing." He said. We finished cleaning the blood as much as we could and cleaned all that was on our hands. Neither me or Hiccup went back to sleep, we just stayed in each other's company until the sun rose but the entire time, neither of us spoke.

I got up and began heading for the door. "W-where are you going?" Hiccup asked. I didn't look back, "I'm going fishing. Besides, I need fresh air."

I went home and into my room, I grabbed my fishing rod and a net then left, heading out to the woods and next to the river. I sat on a nearby log and tosssed the lure into the water. I was out there, not only fishing but attempting to clear my head from the night before.

Around sunset, I'd caught around twenty-something fish, of course by now I'd eaten a few of them. I'd thrown the net of fish over my shoulder and carried my rod on my way back to the village. As I was walking, though, I got the feeling that someone was behind me and looked back, nothing.

I'd continued on and heard a twig snap. I turned around, pointing my fishing rod out. "Show yourself!" I demanded, looking in the direction of the sound of the snapped twig, I saw a large shadow race behind a few trees. I kept my breathing even and watched for any more movement.

Wind began blowing from behind me; I looked behind me for a moment and heard a soft growl. I turned back around and saw a shady beast staring at me through the brush with slit green eyes. I knelt down and dropped my net of fish. Those eyes were familiar.

They eyes were more intrigued now and watched my every movement. I pulled out a fish and carefully threw it over to the brush. The eyes stared at it and back at me; I reached back in and threw a couple more. The curiosity of the beast peaked and it walked out of the brush.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing when they stepped out. A Night Fury... in broad daylight! I dropped my fishing rod and backed away a few steps. I didn't want to seem like a threat. I smiled at the beast, fascinated. I was finally able to take in the beauty of this creature.

The Night Fury sniffed at the fish and looked back at me; it carefully picked one up and threw it into the air, catching it and completely devouring it. Then for some reason stared skeptically at me but began ignoring me after a few seconds, eating the fish again. It didn't move for a while and sat down, watching me. Almost glaring me in the eye. I wondered what this was about.

I stood up slowly, the dragon had its back arched and its head low. I grabbed another fish out of the net, holding out as far as my arm could go. The dragon seemed to purse its lips when it took a single step forward. I felt a spark of excitement when the beast began to approach me.

Soon enough, the black dragon was standing directly in front of me. It seemed like it took hours for it to come that far. It sniffed at the fish and looked up at me, as if it was questioning me. I remained calm and gave the Night Fury a soft smile. It huffed at me a little and began opening its mouth very slowly. _Wait a minute,_ I thought, _There's only gums. But when it ate the other fish I threw to it I could have sworn I'd seen-_

Before I could finish my thought teeth came out of the dragon's gums and it snatched the fish out of my hand. It licked its lips and looked at the rest of the fish that was in the net. I picked up my fish and slung it over my shoulder, the dragon shifted on its paws. It seemed ready to pounce.

I ducked as the black beast pounced overhead, it landed on its back on the other side of me; stomach exposed and obviously irritated that it missed me. Oops, I mean that _he_ missed me. I know that he wasn't really after me, though. He just wanted food.

I cautiously stepped toward him and he rolled over quickly, arching his back and growling. He was quick to jump to defense. I knelt again and the dragon that was only a few feet away from me perked his ears a little and seemed to relax a little.

"Food's what you want, right?" I asked the dragon who only swished his tail. I placed the net on the ground and reached in, the dragon walked up quickly, placing his face right next to the net, anxiously waiting for the fish to be pulled out. I pulled a couple of fish out of the net and the dragon snatched them away before they were even completely out.

He put his back to me and ate the fish, waving his tail around happily. I smiled at the dragon; he didn't seem to be as bad as people think.

"Alyssa! Al, where'd you go?" A voice called for me. The Night Fury growled and flew off quickly. I stood up, gathering my fishing rod and net of fish together, walking towards the voice.

"Al, come on, this isn't funny. Where are you?" The voice called, I saw the person from behind, obviously by the voice, and it was Hiccup. I carefully walked up behind him and I saw him tense up a little. I smirked a little, I growled softly, mimicking a dragon's growl and he began to turn around but before he did, I tackled him and he began screaming, "No! Get it off me! Get it off!"

Since I pounced on his back, he couldn't really see what was going on. I growled softly again and began breathing on the back of his neck. He freaked _completely_ and blacked out. I got up, "Okay, maybe I went _too_ far." I said.

I began thinking of how I was going to carry both him and the fish back to the village. I felt hot breath on the back of my neck, "Do I really want to turn around?" I asked myself out loud and looked behind me, deciding the answer was yes. The Night Fury was back. He was panting behind me, giving me the begging puppy-dog look.

I waved him off and he didn't leave. I looked down at Hiccup and the fish and the Night Fury was trying to grab the fish from the net. I looked at my fishing rod, now, there's an idea.

I pulled three fish out and the dragon's tongue lolled out and his tail began swaying a little. I threw two on the ground and he immediately began eating them. I quickly hefted the unconscious Hiccup onto the dragon's back along with the fish. I placed the other one I pulled out onto the tip of the wooden fishing rod, holding the string about an inch away from the hook so no one got hit with it, I dangled this fish in front of the Night Fury and he looked up at it, he was a little tense. I stretched my arm out so he'd chase after it and as predicted, he did.

I was curious, didn't he care that there was two humans on his back along with a net of fish? I guess this dragon was _really_ into food. Well, me and him have a little something in common then. I smiled at the dragon.

It was getting kind of dark, perfect for a Night Fury. I began lifting the fish up a little more and he began trying to jump for it, I reached back and wrapped an arm around Hiccup so he wouldn't fall, the fish net had somehow gotten tangled on Hiccup's arm, it shouldn't fall.

The Night Fury began taking short flights to try and catch the fish and it was what I wanted, I began to change the direction of the fish and after a few more jumps and flights for the fish the dragon finally took off.

I was smiling widely as we began soaring through the trees; I lifted the fish higher so he wouldn't fly into them. His flying sped up so he could catch the fish, I looked up and saw the village not too far from where we were now, I could carry Hiccup and the fish the rest of the way without any trouble. I finally began angling the fish downward as I did, he did as well.

Finally, reaching the ground, I pulled the rod back towards me and the dragon let out a soft growl and I handed the fish to him, quickly jumping off, holding Hiccup over my shoulders and holding the net of fish in one arm. The dragon looked back at me, sniffing at the net again. I sighed and tossed out another one to him and he ate it.

I began walking away and he followed. I turned around again, "Listen, I'm going home. Back where I'm from, they hate dragons. Think that they're evil. You have to stay." He tilted his head and began pushing against my arm that held the fish, sniffing at it. "No, no, no." I said, "Please go home." I said, pushing his head softly. He looked at the net of fish again and made a soft trilling or purring noise. I facepalmed with my free hand and threw another fish, as soon as the dragon turned his back towards me, I took off.

I just entered the village when I turned a corner and the shadowy dragon sat, panting. I placed Hiccup on the ground gently and crossed my arms at the Night Fury. "_Go_ _home._" I said firmly. The dragon spread his wings, making himself look bigger to intimidate me. "What is that supposed to do?" I asked him, he looked at the net of fish again and motioned for me to give him another fish, growling a little. _This dragon eats as much as a Gronckle!_

I turned to the house I was next to and hit my head against the wall. "Why... me?" I asked, after each word, I hit my head on the wall. The dragon tilted his head and stood against the wall; he put his head against the wall and looked at me through the corner of his eye. I looked at him the same way, "What?" I asked him and the dragon flapped an ear at me, making a soft huffing noise.

Hiccup made a soft grunting noise in his sleep and the Night Fury got down from the wall, shaking his head and growling. I stepped in front of Hiccup, shaking my head and holding my hand out. "No." I said to the beast and he huffed again then averted his eyes elsewhere. I followed his line of sight; the fish again.

"Hiccup!" A voice called, "Alyssa!"

I stiffened and the Night Fury growled again, going to look around the corner. I improvised to keep it from looking, I pulled out another fish and tossed it, hitting the beast in the back of his head, he turned around and growled at me then noticed that I tossed another fish; he didn't eat it this time, though and continued to stare at the fish.

"What more do you want from me?!" I whisper-shouted. The dragon stared at the fish again. I rolled my eyes and quickly tossed him another and he looked satisfied, picking up both fish but not eating them. He looked at me thoughtfully and I nodded to him with a smile, he imitated the nod and flew off with the fish hanging out of his mouth.

I picked up Hiccup and the now-half-full net of fish and turned the corner. Just as I did, Stoic was standing there. "Hello, sir." I said and Stoic stared at Hiccup, "What happened to him?" He asked. Stoic took him off my shoulders and right as I was about to explain... Hiccup finally woke up. After all of the dragon growling and flying he _finally_ wakes up? Wow.

He stirred for a second and remembered what happened before he passed out; he began pushing against Stoic, "Dragon! Dragon! Get it off me! Please, get it off of me!" He shouted and opened his eyes a little, "Oh, it's just you, dad." He said sheepishly, Stoic dropped him. "Ow! Why would you do that?" Hiccup asked his father but didn't get a reply.

"What happened?" Stoic asked, more demanding this time. "I jumped on Hiccup's back and growled like a dragon and then he passed out." I explained simply. Hiccup got up and dusted himself off, "What?" He said, walking towards me, pulling his sleeves up his arms, "Why I oughta-" He said but obviously joking.

Stoic rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What'cha got there?" He asked gesturing to the fish. I held it out to him, "Dinner." Stoic shook his head, "I've already got it ready. Just needs to be eaten now and I'm pretty sure that it's cold now, Hiccup and I were waiting for you until I sent him out for you and, of course, when he didn't come back I had to look for myself." He said.

"Oh." That's all I could say. "Um, Stoic, sir?" I asked and Stoic motioned for me to go on, "I'm going back home." I said. Stoic and Hiccup stared for a few seconds until Stoic nodded and Hiccup just had a sort of sad expression, like he was sad that I would be going home but he understood.

I hefted the fish over my shoulder and waved, "Have a nice one." I told them and Hiccup waved back, Stoic only nodded and began walking back.


	4. Chapter 4

I awoke in my room the next morning. The house seemed almost painfully quiet as nothing could be heard but the trees, wind and chatting outside. I kept running through the event of riding on the Night Fury yesterday. It was so exciting, it felt so _right_.

I didn't feel like eating and sat back in my couch, flipping open the Book of Dragons. For some reason, I can never get enough of this book. I mean, all of the dragons have such interesting qualites. The Boneknapper steals the bones of dead dragons to make itself an unusual suit of armor. Skrills ride lightning and when they're near; your hair will stand on end. The Monstorous Nightmare can set itself on fire as a self-defense mechanism.

_Thank goodness I didn't land on them when I fell from the cliff._ I thought; remembering the fall on the Night Fury's back. _I wonder if the Night Fury that I fell on that night was the same one I fed yesterday._

I got up from the couch and stretched. "Time for some dragon stalking." I said to myself and walked out of the front door.

I walked out of the village and in the woods. I wandered through the woods back to where I'd began feeding the black beast. I saw large dragon prints and followed the short distance they traveled, so I began looking at the trees for any branches that could have been snapped when the Night Fury flapped his wings. Sure enough, there was quite a few and I followed them, hoping to find something that could've given me more information on the mysterious dragon.

I soon came across a toppled tree-top. I examined it closer and saw a burn mark on it, I'd memorized dragon burn marks and this was obviously one of the Night Furies but the thing about all of these tracks was they were all fresh. The broken tree top smelled like fresh charcoal and the dirt and mud around the dragon prints still looked a little soft.

Then I noticed something that worried me; blood. I knelt down and pressed two fingers to test the temperature; it had seemed to be a little dry and slightly cool which meant that the dragon hadn't left too long ago.

I followed the droplets that seemed to grow in size the farther I followed them. The blood began trailing up one tree a little and swiped down the tree. Then there was dirt that seemed to be raked through by something rather large and uneven. I followed the few feet that it traveled and saw a black mass lying on the ground. No doubt a Night Fury.

I gasped a little seeing it. I walked around it slowly and calmly, inspecting its body. There was a gash in the dragon's side and something broken inside of the cut, it looked like the tooth of another dragon but I couldn't quite tell what it was but whatever dragon it belonged to; it was a large one.

I wanted to help this Night Fury. It was obviously in pain and unconcious, I reached to pull the tooth out and stopped halfway there, looking back up to make sure the dragon was still unconsious and grabbed the tooth lodged in the dragon's side. As soon as I did, the Night Fury shot awake and growled at me. I gasped a little and the dragon jumped up, causing me to let go of the tooth in his side. He snarled at me and was about to jump but arched a little; wincing in pain.

I showed him sympathetic eyes and he backed up a few steps, growling at me still. I knelt down and held a hand out, he had just now taken the time to recognize me and took a single step towards me but his legs quivered and he fell, which I immediately rushed to his side. He snapped his jaws at me, he was hurt and scared. It wasn't a surprise that he didn't want me near the wound.

I placed a hand next to his nose and he sniffed then huffed, swishing his tail and whacking me upside the head. I didn't show a negative reaction and the dragon huffed harder. I began reaching for the tooth again and he continued to growl at me.

I tried to calm him, "I'm going to try and help you." I told the dragon. He snorted and relaxed a few of his muscles, "Don't worry, boy. I'm going to help." I said, grabbing the tooth gently; wrapping my fingers around it. The Night Fury tensed again and the tooth must have cut into the muscle a bit, causing the dragon to get up and he bucked a few times. He suddenly had me spun around his neck to where we were face-to-face and he pushed me to the ground with his two large, front paws. He growled at me and I did all I could do in that situation, I showed him the tooth that was in his side. His eyes widened and softened a little as he brought his nose to it, sniffing it carefully. I put it in my belt and the dragon picked himself off of me.

I breathed heavily and the dragon winced again. I'd reopened the wound where the tooth was. I stood up and motioned down with my hand, "Stay here, boy." I said and began walking away to go get a few things but I heard a few soft thuds behind me and the dragon was weakly following. I dropped my head a little, "Stay." I said sternly and the dragon made a soft purring noise.

I shook my head a little and walked away, going back to my house and pick up a few items that I needed for the Night Fury's wound. When I had turned back again the dragon had finally sat himself down and watched me leave with large, puppy eyes.

I got back to my house and collected all of the medicinal herbs, clean cloths and bandages I could. Before I left, I remembered the fish from yesterday that were cooling in buckets of ice. I walked over and gathered a few up with the other items and began walking back out with them in a burlap sack slung over my shoulder.

I followed my previous trail to get back to the Night Fury and saw him sleeping on the ground where he was when I left. I placed the sack down and gently ran my fingers near the wounds. No response from the dragon. I began pulling the medicinal herbs out of the sack and layed them over the thinner, less serious injuries. The dragon woke up, feeling a slight burn from the herbs I suppose, it's normal with the ones I was using and there weren't any others I could use.

He growled and looked to see what I was doing and saw the herbs over a few wounds. He stared at them, marveled almost; he also sniffed them and made a disgusted face after he did, pulling his head back, making a soft screech of disgust but didn't do anything _really_ violent that objectified it. I pet the dragon's side and he flinched away a little.

I pulled back my hand and pulled out the clean cloth, laying it over his side, covering it in a gel from one of the plants, turned it over and smoothed it over his wounds. He growled, wincing and turned very stiff. I pulled out the bandages and the dragon actually began to watch what I was doing. I placed it over the cloth that covered his side and pushed his chest upward a little, confusing him and making him stand up, a little wobbly in the knees. I didn't waste my time wrapping the bandages tightly but not too tightly around the Night Fury but the only problem was that I had to tie the wings over as well.

The dragon was grounded. He wouldn't be able to fly until the wound healed enough to where it wouldn't reopen.

The Night Fury didn't look to happy. He growled at the bandages and reached over to bit them but they were out of reach from his mouth. He seemed to let out a sigh and sat down; he glared straight ahead, back erect. He seemed to be a little irritated that he was grounded.

I reached into the sack again and pulled out a couple of fish. "Here, boy." I said, shaking the fish slowly. He perked an ear up and looked out through the corner of his eye and went back to glaring straight ahead. I reached back in and pulled out a couple of more fish, "Come on, boy." I said, waving both hands to catch his attention. He looked at me full on this time and then resumed his previous position.

I put those fish on the ground and pulled out the last three out of the sack, laying them all together in a small pile. "Here, boy. How about now?" I asked and the Night Fury looked out of the corner of his eye again and stood up, he walked over to the fish pile and sniffed through it. He licked his lips and began digging into the small pile of fish.

I moved back a little so he would be more comfortable eating. I watched him in awe. He was an absolutely beautiful dragon. He finished, licking his lips and stepped over me. I didn't know what to do and decided to just watch what he'd do. He looked like he was about to puke as he began to gag.

He threw up the back half of one of the fish and it landed on top of my head and slid off, landing on my lap. I picked it up, "Is there something wrong with it?" I asked. The dragon picked it up with his mouth and held it to my face, he wanted me to eat it.

I took it from his jaws and he sat upright directly in front of me. I gave a weak smile to the fish and then the Night Fury. I held it to my face with one hand and took a bite out of it, chewing on it. It was a little slimy; I don't know if it was just the fish or if it was the dragon saliva. Anyway, I swallowed and the dragon looked satisfied. I smiled at the dragon and his lips quivered. I was curious at what he was trying to do. His lips began forming into a smile and his teeth were retracted so it was a gummy smile, I guess.

I just laughed at how strange this dragon was. He obviously had a sense of humor and chortled which startled me a bit. I smiled and sighed, "We need to keep you somewhere safe where no one will find you." I said, my tone suddenly serious. The dragon heard a noise and pushed me down, staring towards the noise, baring his teeth and his eyes turning into slits.

A couple of boars ran by and the dragon dropped his guard, getting off of me and somewhat of a guilty look was given to me. I reached over to comfortingly pat his head but he pulled his head back a little. I didn't move my hand, though. The dragon seemed to stare at my hand in wonder. He stroked his head just below the wrist. The dragon gave another gummy smile and I covered my hand as I wanted to laugh.

I stood up and motioned for the dragon to follow me. He got up and seemed to stand a little better than before. His knees weren't wobbling and he was keeping his entire body off of the ground. I walked along, "There's got to be somewhere around here that'll keep you safe long enough until your wound heals." I said to the Night Fury.

He walked past me quickly, turned back to me and motioned for me to follow him before going ahead again. I had to practically jog to keep up with him. He squeezed between two rocks and jumped down, I looked to where he went and when I looked down, there was a cove. It was cleverly hidden from anyone and would be the perfect place to hide him.

I climbed down to meet back up with him and he stepped towards the water in the cove and motioned with his head for me to come over. I went and stood by his side; he looked at me with a closed smile and shot his head into the water causing some to splash on me. He came back up with a pretty good-sized trout. I stared at the dragon in awe. I had never seen a dragon move that quickly before, especially when injured.

He stood on his back legs and began wiggling the fish, kind of like he wanted me to get it. I reached for it and he pulled away then put the fish near me again, repeating his previous actions. I shook my head with a small laugh, this dragon was kind of fun. He put the fish on a nearby rock and walked into the water and motioned for me to come in as well.

I followed him again and he made a clawing motion at the mud with his paw, like there was something there that I was supposed to see. I looked closer and felt a cold splash on my back. I jumped, not expecting it and turned to see the Night Fury's tail dripping with water. I looked at the dragon's face and he had a closed mouth smile.

"You are _so_ getting it!" I said playfully, jumping for the dragon who jumped back, causing me to fall into the water, absolutely missing. He chortled at me and I got up, "You wanna go, tough guy?" I asked and the Night Fury stood on his back legs, he made clawing motions towards me and put himself back on all-fours, putting his chest to the ground and waving his tail around a little. He was just too cute.

Sunset came a little fast. I began climbing a few rocks and the Night Fury let out a saddened trilling noise. I looked back at him, "Don't worry, boy." I said, "I'll be back tomorrow." He walked away slowly and sadly, head down a little. I turned back to continue climbing but I stopped when something hit the back of my head and stuck there, sliding down a little. I grabbed it and saw that it was the fish that the Night Fury had caught earlier. I looked back at him and his tail wagged a little when I looked at him.

Suddenly, the need to say something overwhelmed me. "I love you!" I called to the dragon, who kept a closed smile plastered onto his face.

I walked back to Berk and when I turned a corner to go home, I ran into Hiccup; literally.

"Al? Where've you been? I've been searching all over for you." He said. I put my hands on my hips, "I've just been out. Thinking about things." I said and Hiccup nodded, "Anyway, you said that you were searching all over for me?" I asked. "Oh, yeah!" He said, remembering. "So, about the Night Fury," He began and I stiffened. "We were talking about catching that Night Fury-" I cut him off, "Hiccup, I said we aren't killing them and that's final." I said defensively.

"What?" He asked, "But Al, I thought that that meant just for the time being. That you were unsure." "You thought wrong." I said rather cruelly without meaning to be. I didn't want to be mean to him but it was like this need to defend this dragon. I felt like I _had_ to.

Hiccup drew back a little. "Oh." He said rather awkwardly. "Well, could we just... I don't know. Hang out or something?" Since I felt really bad about what I'd just done I agreed. "Okay, Hiccup. I'm sorry that I snapped before. I don't know what's up with me." I said. Hiccup took a deep breath, "I think that I should've considered how you felt about this a little more. I should be the sorry one." He said.

"Okay, how was your day?" I asked him, and he sighed, "The usual. Just your _best buddies_ in the whole world beating you like a stuffed dragon head." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Hiccup, I'm so sorry." I said genuinely, "I didn't know." He blew it off, "Whatever, it's fine. You were kind of okay today?" He asked and I nodded with a smile, "Doing better."

Hiccup and I had awkward small-talk for the rest of the time we were together. "I'm pretty tired." I yawned. Hiccup yawned as well, "Me, too." He said getting up. "See you tomorrow." He said with a tired grin. I nodded to him, "See ya."


	5. Chapter 5

About a week has passed since the Night Fury was injured and I patched him up. Between then and now, Hiccup and I still have short, awkward conversations, the dragon is growing to trust me a lot, he will even willingly toss me onto his back and run around with me on him. Sadly, we still have to wait a bit longer until we can get the Night Fury flying again; the longer he stays in the cove, the more of a chance he has of getting captured or worse; killed.

I was walking to the cove and jumped down to the ground of the cove. I looked around, "Come on, boy." I called for the dragon. "Come on, wanna go riding?" I asked. No response. I got worried and ran around the cove, looking for any trace of the Night Fury. Nothing and I was going into complete freak out mode.

I heard a soft whooshing noise and turned to see what it was. There was a black mass coming straight for me. "Shadow!" Was all I could say before I was pinned to the ground. I pushed on what had pinned me until I saw what it was, the Night Fury. I was so much calmer now. I rubbed the dragon's head and hugged it, "Thank goodness. I thought I lost you." I said.

Then a thought occured to me, I may have just named the dragon. "Shadow." I repeated and the dragon responded immediately, standing his ears straight up and tilting his head a little. "Shadow." I said again, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. This time, he licked me when I called his name.

"I like that name for you, Shadow." I said and Shadow smiled, getting off of me. I pet his head and he grabbed my free hand with his mouth, teeth retracted and tossed me into the air. I landed on his back and he turned to me, just enough for me to see his adorable dragon smile.

"Let's ride." I said to him. He began running through the cove, jumping over the water and a couple of trees. He spun on his front paws and threw water up with his tail. He was a very creative dragon.

He eventually stopped and let me off, going to drink some water. I'd simply wash my face and jump into the water for a short swim. Shadow trilled and jumped into the water, too. Because of this, I have to change his bandages almost every day.

Shadow would push me under the water occasionally, splash and nip at my legs. I would splash him and lightly tug his tail and scratch the sides of his head. I learned not to scratch him too far under the chin.

After a while, me and Shadow pulled ourselves out of the water. I laid on my back and Shadow stretched, laying down with me. I scratched the top of his head and he trilled happily. Shadow looked over me and noticed something. He began pushed my shirt up with his nose and I looked down to see what he was doing. He was staring at my burn mark from the Scauldron a while back. His face was twisted with confusion.

"It's an old burn, Shadow." I said, sitting up and pulling my shirt down. He poked at my stomach again and I rubbed the top of his head. "I got into it with a Scauldron." I said simply. The look Shadow gave me demanded for a further explaination. She sighed.

"I don't know how it happened but I landed on a Night Fury's back some time ago. It swerved and flew upside down. The dragon started to dive into the water to get me off of him and it worked. As I was swimming around to look for Hiccup, I found a Scauldron instead. I tried to clamp its mouth shut but no one told me that Scauldron's could breath steam out through their nose." I said. Shadow licked the top of my head, trying to comfort me, I think.

"Shadow, let me tell you something." I said turning her head towards him. His look said that he was listening. I have no idea what came over me to tell him what I was about to but I did. Maybe I just had to reach out to someone.

"I never felt like I amounted to much. I always felt like I needed to latch onto someone to provide me with love that I tried to work for. No one's supposed to _work_ for love." I said, tears finally after years of resentment and hate pouring from my eyes. "Hiccup has always been close to me but sometimes it feels like he's in his own world and he's left me behind. I tried to work for my father's love, the love of the other Vikings but it was useless. If you have to work for love, that isn't love. It's just tolerance or the fact that they just like you doing their chores." I said; shoulders quivering. "Because of all of the hate over the years, I had to accept myself with my faults. I can't love myself no matter how hard I try so that's why I went looking for love from others."

Shadow had licked the top of my head in an attempt to comfort me and it was nice just knowing he was there.

I got up, wiped my tears off on my sleeve and Shadow gave a questioning stare. I picked up the sack and Shadow rolled onto his side, he was used to this by now. Well, not the me-breaking-down-and-telling-him-a-few-secrets-abo ut-myself part.

I got the wet bandages off of him and tossed them to the side. I examined the healing wound to his side and said, "Coming along nicely, Shadow. It's looking really good." It earned me a gummy smile and, as always, it made me laugh. I always allowed him to stretch his wings so they wouldn't ache or stiffen and then I remembered that he hadn't flown for a while.

"If you want to go flying for a bit I'll let you." I said, placing my hands on my hips. Shadow's eyes lit up and he immediately shot off of the ground, doing ariel acrobatics and let out an excited shriek. I sat down and watched him fly around for a while until he began to fly directly towards me. It was easier to just let him tackle me so I let him but instead of being tackled to the ground, he tossed me onto his back and began flying off quickly, almost like he was running from something.

I looked back and saw another Night Fury tailing us. He opened his mouth and patted Shadow's head. "Shadow, dodge!" I said, Shadow dove down and a shot fired right above us. Shadow looked back at the Night Fury and growled, he flew directly for the other Night Fury. I could feel a rumbling in him and realized that he must be charging up a shot.

The Night Fury's mouth opened to bite down on Shadow but he slammed his head upwards, shutting the other's mouth and then he clamped down on it with his jaws. Shadow began to fly towards the ground, keeping a hard grip on the other Night Fury. We slammed into the ground and the other Night Fury was obviously hit hard, he was obviously in a serious amount of pain. Shadow held the other dragon down with his front paws and I could hear that the shot that had been held in Shadow's mouth for quite some time was about to be released. He still had a grip on the other dragon.

I jumped off of Shadow's back and put a hand on his snout. "No." I said to him. He was breathing heavily with the heat of the moment of what he was about to do and his facial expression gave me a 'Why not?' look.

"I don't know what went down between the two of you or whatever the heck happened but killing each other won't solve anything." I said, I knelt down the pinned dragon and pet the top of his head and he growled at me, causing Shadow to growl at him.

I stood back up. "Shadow, let him go." Shadow glanced down at the pinned Night Fury then back up at me. "Now, Shadow." I said sternly. Shadow let go of the dragon's mouth and got off of him. The dragon glared at me and Shadow for a moment, he shook himself off a little bit and turned back to glare at me and only me. He looked straigh ahead and flew off.

Shadow watched the dragon leave, shocked. He looked back at me and walked towards me then nuzzled my arm which I decided to throw around his neck. "Shadow," I began and his ears perked, "During times of war you must never forget compassion." I said and he laid his ears back and let out a self-disappointed trill. "I'm not angry with you if that's what you're thinking." I said but his mood didn't seem to lighten, he seemed in deep thought.

"Thank you, Shadow." I said rubbing the top of his head. "For everything. Thank you for listening to me, for showing me what it's like to fly, for your love." I said, Shadow looked at me a little shocked and I nodded, "Oh, yeah. I knew." Shadow shook his head more to himself than to me.

"We have a lot to learn about each other, Shadow." I said after a bit and he nodded. Shadow suddenly hit the back of my legs with his tail causing me to fall over but he moved quickly and caught me on his back.

"So, I guess that we're going riding." I said and Shadow flew into the air and firing a shot into the air. It was a wonderful experience to go riding with him. He made it not only relaxing but also fun and in a way it was almost magical.

After the ride, I got Shadow to drop me off outside of my house. I stretched and smiled at him, "Well, Shadow. Good night." I said, getting ready to walk in but Shadow trilled and nudged me with his head. "Oh," I said, "I love you." I said, hugging his neck and he squeezed lightly with his chin and chest yet holding me tightly. I let go but he didn't seem ready. "Shadow." I cleared my throat, "I have to go and so do you before you get caught." He hesitated before letting go and stared at me with loving eyes and then backed up before flying away.

I began walking upstairs and began wiping the sweat off of my face. I laid on the bed and began to drift off but my rest only lasted for a few short hours. Loud banging and shouts from outside woke me up from my otherwise peaceful slumber. I got up and looked outside of my window to see a dragon raid and I had only hoped that I didn't see Shadow out there. I know he's a good dragon but he would probably come out to protect me and might get caught in the process.

I ran outside to find him. If he was, I had to make sure that he got out safely.


	6. Chapter 6

I ran through town, being yelled at by a few Vikings and eventually ran face-first into Hiccup. He wasn't knocked over but he did stumble back and looked up at me, "Oh, it's just you, Al." He said, "Come on, we have to go help Gobber." He said with a gesture.

No getting out of it now that Hiccup found me. I searched the skies anxiously as the dragons raced through it. Hiccup and I went to Gobber's blacksmith and got a hold on a few weapons, "Glad you could make it. I worried that you might have been carried off." Gobber said to Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled, "No. They wouldn't know what to do with all _this_." He said, gesturing and flexing his non-existant muscles. "What's there to do?" I laughed quietly. "They need toothpicks, don't they?" Gobber said.

I continued faux-working and kept thinking about what these weapons were for. I looked to see if either of the two were watching me and 'accidentaly' drove the sword into the grinder and broke it.

"Son of a bridge troll!" I shouted in faux-frustration.

Gobber took the broken sword from me, "Go weld it back together." He said and tossed it across the shop. I went over and began burning it and noticed that Hiccup dropped some water on the floor, I smirked. Hiccup began asking Gobber if he could go out and kill a dragon. I shook my head and changed my angle and 'accidentaly' slipped and when I slipped I had tossed the sword against a few other weapons that crashed to the floor and a few fell off the shelves and into the fire. "What is wrong with me today?!" I shouted, getting up as I did, Hiccup accidentaly knocked a guy out with one of his contraptions, I almost laughed.

Gobber and Hiccup got into a short arguement but the part that made me chuckle was when Hiccup told Gobber that he was 'playing a dangerous game keeping that much raw Vikingness contained'. "There will be consequences!" Hiccup said dramatically, Gobber sarcastically said, "I'll take my chances." Hiccup slouched a bit. "I can't blame him." I smirked, looking at Hiccup through the corner of my eye and he stuck his tongue out at me.

Gobber was getting ready to leave as he put an axe on his hand and turned back to us, "Stay... put... there." Hiccup gave him a sort of confused look, "You know what I mean." Gobber said and took off, waving the axe in the air.

Hiccup lifted his wheelbarrow-like contraption, "Come on, Al. Let's catch us a Night Fury." He said. It could've ignited a fire inside of me and before I could tell him 'no' he took off. I let out a frustrated sigh.

I chased Hiccup up to a ledge and he set up his contraption. "Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at." He said softly.

I looked in the sky, making sure there was nothing but saw the stars get blocked by not one, but two shadows. I stiffened and looked at Hiccup from the corner of my eye, "You can't do this." I said boldly, he scoffed, "Want to bet?" He asked, "No! You can't kill dragons! They aren't what you thin-!" I shouted but I was cut off by the explosion that hit the side of watch tower that rested maybe fourty yards in front of us. Hiccup aimed, I reached over to angle the contraption differently but Hiccup already shot. I was too late.

I watched the sky carefully and saw a shadow falling from the sky. My heart dropped and I fought every fiber in my body to not tear this boy to shreds.

Hiccup got up, "I hit it? I hit it!" He shouted, cheering himself on. "Did anyone else see that?" He asked and a Monstorous Nightmare picked its head up over the side of the ledge. Hiccup's face fell, "Except for you." Hiccup ran off screaming and the Nightmare walked right over me but mainly because I ducked.

I was about to run after them but something pinned me from behind and licked the back of my head. "Get off!" I said and rolled over, seeing the Night Fury that I'd befriended. "Shadow." I smiled with relief but realization hit me and I pushed on Shadow a little, "Shadow, get off! Hiccup's in trouble!" Shadow looked up and so did I, barely seeing Hiccup turn a sharp corner and the Nightmare follow him. Shadow huffed heavily and flew straight up into the air.

I followed of course but I wanted to make sure Shadow was gone because if not then they're going to catch him. We're in the middle of Berk during a dragon raid! If he's flying through the streets than of course they'll see him.

I turned the corner to see Hiccup hide behind a large post and the Nightmare had shot fire at it. Hiccup began to look around the edge of the pillar while the Nightmare was coming through the other side it almost took a bite out of him until Shadow jumped on the Nightmare's face, biting down on him. Hiccup stared absolutely wide-eyed and then fainted. I ran towards the dragons and the Nightmare had slung off Shadow and went to sink his jaws into him but Shadow had jumped back, quickly charged a shot and hit the Nightmare right under the wing. The Nightmare screeched at Shadow who responded with a swipe in the Nightmare's direction. Shadow began to charge up another shot but the Nightmare had already begun flying away and Shadow shook the shot off.

Shadow came and nuzzled up to me but I pushed on him, "Get out of here!" I told him, worried for him. Stoic came just in time to see me holding the side of the dragon's head and his eyes grew wide and he reached up to rub his eyes. Shadow's eyes widened and he flew off with me holding onto his face. I climbed up onto his back looked behind us to see Stoic barely put his hands down and look around, no longer seeing us. Hiccup had stirred awake and looked back to try and see what was going on.

"Shadow, that was way too close." I panted. "Let's both agree to never do that again. We could've died." Shadow trilled. "Let's both agree that we're never coming back to Berk during a dragon raid." I suggested and Shadow trilled again.

I let Shadow fly his own way for a while until I noticed a tree that was broken almost completely in half. I patted Shadow on the head to get his attention, "Shadow, down there." I said and he began to slowly make his way to the ground. It turns out that right past the broken tree was kicked up dirt that seemed pretty fresh and about the size of a Night Fury.

Shadow and I followed this trail and looked over a dip in the ground to see a Night Fury tangled in ropes and he was breathing heavily. I walked up to the dragon carefully and quietly, this dragon wasn't unconsious. I looked him over carefully to see if there were any serious wounds anywhere but there were none that I could see until I suddenly looked at his tail. I looked back at Shadow who was staring at the captured Night Fury with sympathy and as if he was watching for anything sketchy. I looked at Shadow's tail and saw two fins on each side then I looked back at the captured Night Fury's tail whom had only one fin.

"It must be from Hiccup's contraption." I said; looking the poor dragon over again. I kept looking him over for anything that I may have missed but nothing. There were no noticable wounds except for the missing half of his tail.

Shadow suddenly growled and glared off into the direction that we came from and looked as if he was about to pounce. "No, Shadow." I whispered calmly and walked into the brush, motioning for him to follow me which he did. I laid low on the ground and Shadow mimicked me, lying completely flat.

A gasp came from behind the dip in the ground and Shadow stiffened, ready to pounce if he had to but then relaxed when he saw Hiccup stumble down to the captured Night Fury.

"Oh, wow- I really hit it." He said almost at a loss for words. "Th-this fixes everything! Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!" He claimed putting his foot on the dragon's side and he pushed him off, sending him stumbling back slightly.

Hiccup began walking towards the dragon again, this time more carefully held the blade out in front of him but fidgeted a little, looking over the beast. The Night Fury had finally opened his eyes and looked at Hiccup, even from my angle, I could see that this Night Fury was afraid.

Hiccup hesitated and took a deep breath, "I'm gonna kill you, dragon." Hiccup said, continuing his hesitating and deep breathing to calm himself. "I'm gonna cut your heart out and take it to my father. I'm a Viking. I'm a Viking!" He said fiercly.

Shadow began tensing up. He'd never seen Hiccup like this or even heard me talk about it so he was obviously uncomfortable but yet he didn't rise to take action.

Hiccup began raising the small blade above his head and glanced at the dragon from his cracked open eyes. He raised the blade again and once again, looked at the dragon who put his head down, accepting his fate.

I gulped and wondered if he was really going to go through with this but then remembered who this was. It was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. The one who was afraid of dragons as a child and grew up wanting to kill one but he had never shown any dislike towards them like the other Vikings. Sure, he talked about killing one but he probably never thought the day would come so that may be why he put up the tough front. Hiccup wasn't going to do this.

Hiccup's hands fell over the top of his head as he held the small blade and he shook his head. His hands fell to his sides and he looked over the ropes. "I did this." He said and looked over the ropes again. He put his head down and knelt to the dragon's side, beginning to cut the ropes.

At first chance, the Night Fury had jumped on Hiccup and glared him straight in the eye. I wanted to get up to help but Shadow had, for some reason, pinned me to the ground with one of his large paws. I watched the dragon carefully. He only glared at Hiccup for a while until he began spreading his wings and exposed his teeth, Hiccup began turning his head away but didn't take his eyes off of the dragon. Who finally lunged his head downwards towards Hiccup's face and screeched before flying off.

There was something strange about how the dragon flew that concerned me. Was it because of the tail?

Hiccup had gotten up shakily and began groaning. He fell to the ground, unconsious. Shadow picked his paw up off of me and I rushed to Hiccup's aid, to make sure that really wasn't any wounds on him. Shadow had walked behind me, looking at him carefully. Hiccup wasn't hurt as far as I could see, he just passed out from shock just like he did back in Berk not too long ago.

"Hiccup." I sighed, facepalming. Regardless, I picked him up over my shoulder. "I'm going to head back home." I told Shadow and he laid his ears back sadly. He probably wanted me to hang around with him longer. "But," I added and his ears perked, "You can fly us back if you want but be gentle." I said and Shadow nodded. I placed Hiccup on his back and got on as well, holding onto both Shadow and Hiccup firmly so we wouldn't fall. "Let's go." I said and Shadow began flying back to Berk.

While flying back I wondered why the Night Fury hadn't killed Hiccup. Could it have been the same reason that Shadow didn't attack me? Because we helped them? It could be.

Shadow flew beneath the cliffs so we wouldn't be seen. He seemed to be experienced with riding out of anyone's sight. He made sure to be gentle with any turnes or twists along the way so Hiccup and I didn't fall. He began flying up along the cliff carefully and there was the back of my house.

He landed gently and I got off of him, holding Hiccup in my arms. "Thanks, Shadow." I said with a grateful smile. He trilled and rubbed his head against my arm. I placed Hiccup over my shoulder so I could pet Shadow's head and he rubbed against me again, like he didn't want to leave.

I looked to make sure we were alone and saw no one. "Shadow, you can't stay especially after the scene made last night. You've got to go back to the cove." I said and Shadow was a little saddened but turned his back to me and Hiccup and flew off. I hated seeing him like that but it had to be done or else Stoic and the other Vikings would... I didn't even want to think about it and took Hiccup inside.

Hiccup was out for a few hours until he began to stir and I sat on my couch, reading the Book of Dragons _again_. He began to freak out a little, he sat up straight breathing heavily. "Where am I? Did the dragon hurt me? I'm pretty sure I feel blood loss. Why else would I be so dizzy? They're taking me to their den to feed me to their young!" He ranted and after the last claim, he pulled the covers I laid on him over his face and shook a little.

I rolled my eyes, "Hiccup, you aren't going to be fed to baby dragons." I said in a bored voice. "But if they were they would all fight over your head since it's the meatiest part of your body." He threw the covers off of his head, "Not funny." He said, sitting up.

"Before you begin asking any more questions I'll tell you what happened; you passed out in the woods near some large dirt trail thing and a broken tree. I picked you up and carried you back here." I lied slightly. He looked at his lap for a second, "Thanks." He said and then a thought occured to him, "What happened to the Night Fury?" He asked.

"What Night Fury?" I asked, shutting the book finally. "I-I was in the woods looking for the Night Fury and he was tied up and- well, you were there when I shot him down so you know why he was tied up but anyway, I tried to kill him but I..." He hesitated. "I couldn't do it so I figured that the whole reason that the dragon was like that was because of me s-so I..." He hesitated again and I had to erge him on, "What?" I asked. "I cut him loose." He said, looking almost shameful.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hic." I said as I got up. "You did the right thing." I held a hand out for him to grab which he did. "Maybe you're right." He said with a sigh. "Sure, right." He said, not really listening as I pulled him up. "You really think that it was the right thing to do?" He asked as I opened the door for us to leave, "I know so." I said and shut the door behind us as we left.

He was silent on the way over to his house. He stared at the ground and seemed to be in deep thought. The day must have really given him something to think about. I couldn't help myself and had to ring in. "A lot on your mind?" He looked at me with a shocked expression before relaxing and placing a fist next to his temple, "Kind of, yeah." He said. "I shouldn't tell my dad about what happened today." I gave a curt nod, "For sure." I said.

We came up to his doorstep and he tried to sneak in but Stoic caught him without even looking, "Alyssa, come inside." Stoic said and I obeyed his orders by coming inside and waiting patiently for him to tell me whatever he was going to.

"I need to speak with you two." He said and clasped his hands together. "I actually need to talk to you, too, Dad." Hiccup said. They both took a deep breath and spoke at the same time then asked each other "What?" but I had heard what Stoic said perfectly and my shoulders drooped a little and my heart sank.

While they were discussing the issues with each other I kept thinking to myself; why'd this have to happen? What had I done wrong? Other than befriending a dragon, I mean.

"I've made up my mind, Hiccup." Stoic made clear to Hiccup. "Can you not hear me?" Hiccup asked desperately. "Do we have a deal?" Stoic asked, "This conversation's feeling pretty one-sided." He told Stoic. "Deal?" Stoic almost shouted and Hiccup and he dropped his head a little. "Deal." He said defeatedly.

I couldn't help it and had to ask. "Why am _I_ being enrolled in dragon training?" Stoic turned towards me this time, "You're going to need to help Hiccup defend Berk. I don't know if you've noticed but he isn't exactly the strongest weapon in the blacksmith." He said. "I'm standing right here." Hiccup said, obviously annoyed but Stoic ignored him. "And most of the other teens around here aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Anyway, you should be honored." Something began burning inside of me for some reason, "Honored?" I shook with anger, "HONORED?!" I roared at him.

"WHAT IS IT AROUND HERE WHEN YOU KILL A DRAGON THAT YOU'RE JUST _AUTOMATICALLY_ HONORED?! I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THE DRAGON GETTING A BREAK OR THE DRAGON GETTING TO RELAX! Sure, they raid us but WHAT ON EARTH DO _YOU_ THINK IT'S FOR?! IS THERE SOMETHING BIGGER OUT THERE THAT WE DON'T KNOW OF THAT'S A NATURAL ENEMY TO US BOTH?!" I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with this but it felt good to get it out. "Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?" I hissed and began breathing deeply.

Hiccup was wide-eyed and Stoic's face had a print of my dad's face all over it. I immediately began to regret what I'd said. "Stoic, I-I'm sorry. I-I was j-just-" I stuttered before being picked up by the front of my shirt, I gulped harder than I'd ever had in my entire life.

"You should be grateful that the day you killed your father that I didn't throw you out of Berk and feed you to Nadders." He said darkly. "Right now, I have half a mind to toss you onto a boat and send you out into open waters and if you want to prove me wrong you'll take the dragon training classes and at least _try_ to pass. Do we have a deal?" He asked and I gulped again, "Y-yes, sir." I croaked and he let go, dropping me to the floor.

"I'll be back... probably." Stoic said as he left. "We'll be here... maybe." Hiccup said and the door shut.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiccup looked at me sympathetically after his father left. "What were you doing?" He asked me and I got up, "I'm not quite sure." I said looking off from the corner of my eye and my head and shoulders drooped a little. "Do you... do you think you'll be okay?" Hiccup asked. I nodded with confidence, "I've made it through worse besides we're Vikings; it's an occupational hazard." He still seemed unsure and I ruffed up the hair on his head.

"We've had a long day." Hiccup said. "We should rest up for tomorrow." I leaned against the wall, "Yet you slept through most of it." I commented and he stuck his tongue out at me. "Ooh, a tongue." I said sarcastically, "Now I'm terrified." He withdrew his tongue and pouted. "Whatever." He said and began walking upstairs but stopped halfway; looking back at me. "Could you... stay here, please?" He asked and I cocked an eyebrow. "I'm uncomfortable sleeping alone." He said and I drew my head back, "What?" I asked. "In a large house, I mean." He said putting a hand over his red face from what he'd just said.

"Sure, Hiccup." I said and laid on the couch where I usually slept when I stayed over with them. "Sweet dreams." I said and he smiled through his still blushing face, "You too." He said and continued on upstairs.

I decided that once he fell alseep I would leave because there was something I wanted to do. I checked upstairs quietly every twenty minutes but Hiccup seemed hesitant to sleep and each time I passed by he was tossing and turning with his eyes squinting as if he was thinking hard about something. Most of the time he was staring at the ceiling or his back towards the open door until the last time I went through and he was facing the door and his eyes were shut. He'd finally stopped fidgeting and relaxed enough to fall asleep.

I quietly went downstairs and left to go to the blacksmith. I wasn't making anything really special but I felt obliged to make it. I felt someone watching me and I froze and grabbed a hammer that was convienantly by my side; I turned around and saw Hiccup. I placed the hammer down and leaned back.

"What are you doing up so late at night?" He asked and I laid an arm over my in-progress project. "I'm just working on a new weapon." I lied. Hiccup cocked an eyebrow and tried to look around me and I leaned in the direction he was trying to look, he tried to do it the other way and I followed by leaning in that direction as well.

"Okay, spill it." He said. "Why have you been acting so strange lately?" He asked. "No reason." I said, not moving. "Then show me what you're doing there." He said, gesturing behind to behind me. "I don't see why I should." I said, not moving. "Just show me and I'll leave you alone." He said. "Nope." I said stubbornly.

"You're hiding something and I know that it's really none of my business but as _future cheif I demand that you show me_!" He said demandingly. "No." I said simply and he slouched, "Well, I tried." He said and turned around. I didn't let my guard down for good reason. Hiccup turned back around quickly and tried to tackle me out of the way but that obviously didn't work and I easily shoved him off.

"Don't get into a fight you can't win." I informed with a smirk and he slouched again. "If it's so important that you won't let your good friend Hiccup see it than it must be really important." He said, trying to make me feel guilty. "Not going to work." I said.

"Don't you love me?" He asked in a second attempt to try and make feel guily. I shook my head, "Maybe." I said as I pinched his cheek and he smacked my hand away. "Fine, I'll leave." He said before walking off. I made sure he was gone before I began working again.

I turned my back to the open air behind me and began working on my project once again and after a while I felt something or someone staring at me again. "Hiccup, I already said you can't see it and if I tell you one more time I'm going to use you as a skewer for fruit kabobs." I said but there was still the presence of someone.

"Hiccup, darn it! I said-" I turned around and saw the green eyes of a Night Fury that leapt from the shadows and of course, Shadow trotted up to me. I looked around frantically, "Shadow, leave now." I said and Shadow sat down, basically saying that he wasn't going anywhere. "Shadow, you're going to get caught." I said pushing his head slightly. "I told you what happens if they catch you, right?" I asked and Shadow shook it off.

I slapped a hand to my forehead. "Fine, you can stay but not for long." I said and Shadow seemed satisfied, lying down and curling up in a large ball. I was able to continue my project without Shadow interupting again since he fell asleep. He occasionaly grunted, kicked, swished his tail and flicked his ears which I thought was adorable.

Soon enough, the sun began rising and I was satisfied with my work. "Shadow." I sang and he finally jolted awake, looking up at me. I held up my project which was a saddle made just for him. He perked his ears and sniffed at it, not emitting any negative reaction I walked around him and he seemed intruiged with what I was doing with it and watched as I strapped the saddle with built in reigns around him.

I got on his back. "Let's take it for a test ride." I said and Shadow walked out of the blacksmith slowly, spread his wings and flew into the air. I held onto the saddle and we flew through the skies for only a few moments to see how Shadow liked the saddle and we landed behind Hiccup's house.

"How do like it, Shadow?" I asked and he simply nodded at me. The door opened to the front of the house and Shadow flew off. I walked around the house and met Hiccup in the front. He was watching the sunrise? I didn't know he did that. I walked up behind him and leant against the door, "Lovely, isn't it?" I asked and he jumped, "Huh?" He asked. "The sunrise." He looked back and said "Yeah."

After a while of just looking at the sunrise, I turned to Hiccup. "We should get ready for dragon training." I said and he nodded reluctantly before going back inside. I just took off walking towards the arena.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by the _nicest people ever_; Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Asterid. "Oh, man." I heard Tuffnut whine, "What are you doing here?" I laid back against the wall and glared at him, "To kick your guys' asses." I said.

Gobber had came along after a while, opened the gate and made an opening gesture. "Welcome to dragon training!" He greeted and the others began saying that things like this are only fun if you get a scar out of it. "Yeah, pain. Love it." Hiccup said sarcastically as he walked in.

"Oh, man, what's he doing here?" Tuffnut asked. "How about you shut your over-worked mouth and mind your own business for once?" I said. "Yeah, but Hiccup already killed a Night Fury so does that disqualify him or-?" Snotlout commented and I glared. "If you want to keep your peanut-sized brain then I would highly suggest that you shut up. I don't know if you've noticed which you more than likely haven't because you're too busy oggling Astrid who you don't stand a chance with but a lot of people get tired of hearing all of you talk."

Gobber then blew the teens off and began introducing the dragons and motioned for me to come back over but like a stubborn child, I stayed put. Gobber went over to the Gronckle's cage and I wasn't listening to them anymore, just watching. The Gronkle was released.

I was practically invisible. I stayed on my side of the arena and I was watching what was going on; seeing the Gronckle shoot at the twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout but I stiffened once one hit Hiccup's shield and it was shot out of his grip and he had to chase it. The Gronckle followed Hiccup and I ran towards him, I'd shoved Hiccup out of the way and he fell onto his back, looking back at me and the Gronckle.

She charged up her shot and I reached under her chin to scratch her like I did with Shadow but she only seemed to become angrier so I reached farther under and scratched, causing her to pass out. Gobber, Hiccup, Asterid and Fishlegs were in awe while Snotlout and the twins seemed irritated.

I pushed the Gronckle's head off of me and got up, "Well, let's put her back in her cage." I said as I grabbed her head, Asterid had shook her head to get rid of the shock and came over to help and so did Gobber. While the other two had practically dropped her, I gently placed her head down and patted the side of her head while no one was looking. I got out and helped shut the cage.

Gobber looked at all of the other teens, "As we were about to see before Alyssa had somehow knocked the dragon unconsious, what do dragons always do?" He asked and no one aswered. "They always, _always_ go for the kill." He said and everyone looked at each other except the way Hiccup and Asterid looked at me, they demanded an exclamation but I ignored them.

Hiccup's face turned from wanting an exclamation to wanting to know something else. To dig deeper into a secret but not mine... his own. It must be the Night Fury from yesterday.

"Whatever." I said. "Just because there aren't any visible scars doesn't mean that they're not there." I walked off and when I left the arena Astrid was waiting for me. "What was the deal back in the ring?" She asked. "Which part?" I asked back and she straightened up, "The Gronckle. How'd you do that?" She asked. "It's in the Book of Dragons." I lied. "Look it up." I said before walking off, leaving a skeptical Astrid behind.

We were staying at a hall that was near where we'd be sleeping while we were dragon training. I went inside to my room that and kept thinking about that one thing that Snotlout had said that pierced my heart, '_At least I have parents that love me._' My shoulders drooped as I placed my forehead against the wall and shook my head slowly. Anger began building up inside of me and I felt a surge travel through my arm and gathered at my fist. I picked it up and punched the thick walls, busting my knuckles open and dropping my hand. I let out a sigh and looked out of the large window.

I walked over to it and looked out of it just for a new view and a little bit of air. I shook my head and laid on the bed, trying to get past the events of the day and take a short nap.

I woke up a few short hours later and there was a large black mass in the already dark room. I recognized the shape and sat up, "Shadow, what are you doing? More importantly, how'd you get in?" I asked and Shadow made a gesture with his head towards the large window in the room.

"Well, what is it?" I asked. Shadow jumped out of the window and flew in place, waiting for me to jump from the window as well. I looked back and jumped down, landing on his still-saddled back. He flew through the rain that had begun pouring and began taking me out towards the cove again. He hurried over, stood on the ledge over the cove and showed me what was inside.

Even through the darkness and the rain, I saw another black figure down in the cove. I studied it for a bit until it began to shoot out of frustration. It was the half-tailed Night Fury. He seemed to be trying to fly but couldn't hold balance or get more than a couple of yards off of the ground.

Shadow looked at me and bucked slightly then looked at me as if he wanted me to go help him. I didn't know what to do, "Shadow, I'm sorry but I don't know how." Shadow trilled and the look on his barely visible face said that he understood and began flying back.

We began flying back to the hall and shook my head. "Shadow, don't take me back in through the window." I said and Shadow trilled questioningly. "If you take me back through the window and lightning flashes on the way there and then they'll catch you." I explained. Shadow understood and landed in front of the hall. I got off of Shadow's back. I turned back to him and patted his head, "Don't worry about it. We'll be able to do something for him sooner or later." I said and Shadow trilled, brushed the top of his head against me and flew off.

I opened the door slightly but a sudden burst of wind blew from behind me and slammed the door open and I hid behind the other door just in case anyone was still in the great hall. I looked after a few seconds and saw Hiccup sitting at the table. I entered and walked around through the shadows of the area, listening to everything Hiccup was saying and it all sounded familiar.

He was reading the Book of Dragons. I listened when he read the Night Fury page and began to come out of the shadows. He tossed his journal onto the book and I popped up behind him, "Hey, Hiccup." I said and he jumped, "Al! Al, what are you doing here?" He asked, "More importantly why are you soaked?" I shook my head, "Not important." I looked behind him and he tried to cover up the books.

I gently pushed him to the side and looked at his observations and the picture he drew of the Night Fury with the half tail. I saw that he had drawn a whole one but rubbed half of it out when I guess he noticed the Night Fury's tail was half missing. I grabbed the pencil that he'd left out and drew the tail back onto the Night Fury.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "They only have one tail fin thing." He said not really finding the right word for the tail. "No, they don't." I said and Hiccup cocked an eyebrow, "But the one I found… How do you-?" He asked but didn't finish. "He did at one time. Sweet dreams, Hic." I said and walked off, leaving Hiccup with so many questions.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiccup had been staring at me for most of the morning. Most of the time it was a skeptical look that demanded more answers than he had gotten the night before. I pretty much blew off most of what he said last night and that's why I got to the point with the tail but I doubt he picked up on it.

We were left behind in the hall, being the only two people inside while everyone else was out getting ready. When he stared at me for a strangely long time I only replied with "Like what you see?" He looked down and back up. "I'll gladly answer a few questions but it also depends on what they are." I said and slid the Book of Dragons across the table towards him. He must have picked up on what I was trying to say.

"Okay, how do you know about the Night Fury tail?" He asked. I smirked, "Like I'd tell you." He flipped the book open and showed me the Night Fury page. "You know more than what you're coming off with." He said, impatiently shoving the book back to me. "Like what?" He leaned over the table and whispered even though we were the only two people there. "_I'm_ trying to ask the questions here." He said, "Just answer this _one_ question for me, please." He almost begged. "Shoot." I said, Hiccup opened his mouth to speak but the door slammed open.

"You two get out here!" Gobber yelled. "You're holding everybody back!" I got up from the table and began walking towards the door. "H-hey!" Hiccup called speed-walking after me, "We'll continue this talk later." I whispered.

When we got to the arena, there was already a set up of a maze that I guess we were supposed to navigate around to attack a dragon.

Soon enough, we were inside and a Nadder was released. "Today is about survival." Gobber said. I ducked so a Nadder spike wouldn't hit me. "Isn't it always?" I asked and ran around a corner. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Fishlegs called. "Look for its blindspot." Gobber said in response, "Every dragon has one."

I huddled in a corner and tried to ready myself for any question that Hiccup might ask. There was such a wide arangement of possibilites of what he'd ask after last night. Why'd I have to finish the tail? Now Hiccup's all over my case and everyone knows that once Hiccup gets on your case, it's impossible to get him off.

I was in my own world for who knows how long. I banged the back of my head against the wall and felt the wall jerk. I looked up and the Nadder looked at me and jumped down in front of me. Smart idea to huddle in the corner, right? Now I'm trapped.

The Nadder began charging her fire and I ran under her spread legs to get out but it wasn't the smartest idea that anyone's ever had. The Nadder's spiked tail grazed my arm as I began running away and I could already feel poison flowing through me.

The Nadder had turned around to chase me and ran into the walls that towered across the arena and created a domino effect. A wall fell over in front of me and I jumped back. I know, clever, right? The back of my head hit the Nadder's chest and I looked up at her. She didn't seem to see me and I decided that if I was going to scratch her, I'd have to do it fast. I reached up to scratch her chin but Astrid had busted a sheild over the Nadder's face causing her to stumble to the side.

"What kind of tricks are you pulling around here?" She asked me, holding the axe towards me. "I don't know who you think you are with all of _this_." She said gesturing to me. "What, all of me? I think I'm a Viking with all of _this_ fabulousness." I retorted, making a hand gesture to my body when I said 'this'. "Enough with the jokes." She said. "You better just stay out of the way if you aren't on our side."

I began feeling dizzy.

_"Hey-y-y, are you okay-y-y?"_ Hiccup asked. _"You don't look so good-ood-ood."_ The voices began echoing around me. _"Did a Nadder spike hit you-ooh-ooh?"_

My breathing to heavy and swaying, my vision was becoming incredibly blurry. _"I'm fine-ine-ine."_ My own voice echoed and I fell back.

_"Al!" _Hiccup's voice echoed. _"You're gonna be-e-e... you'll be just fine-ine-ine."_ That was the last thing I heard before slipping into darkness.

I have no idea how long I was out but it was quite a while. My eyes fluttered open and things still seemed a bit blurry but it could just be that I had barely woken up. I tried looking around the room and only made out the shape of a green and brown figure, my vision began clearing and the figure turned at me.

"Hey, you're awake." Hiccup said, sitting down. I tried to sit up but a jolt of pain ran through my arm, "Don't." Hiccup said, pushing me back down by my unharmed shoulder. "I barely got that thing cleaned up so please try not to move that arm around too much." He said. I looked over to my wrapped up arm that had a few small red patches on it.

I sat up using my good arm and looked at him, rubbing my eyes. "Hey, Hiccup?" I said but had to stop because I had yawned. "Yeah?" He asked. "What was your question about?" I asked. "Huh?" He asked.

"This morning. You said that you wanted me to answer a question this morning and then Gobber came in." I explained.

"Oh!" He said, remembering. "It has nothing to do with dragons, I promise." I yawned a little and waited for him to speak again. "You seem to be bringing things up out of the blue for no reason. Yesterday you said 'Just because there aren't any visible scars doesn't mean that they're not there.' What was that about?"

I began to think about it. "I think that it's just everything around me." I said honestly. "I guess that it's finally taking its toll on me after all these years." Hiccup's sympathetic eyes came through again. "In that case, you've been reflecting a lot on your past, right?" He asked. "Actually, yes." I said. "I rememberd for some reason when I went into my room what Snotlout had told me long ago. 'At least my parents love me.'" I said, giving him an example of the pain I was reflecting back on.

"I remember that day." Hiccup said. "Your mom had died only a few weeks before and Snotlout was throwing rocks at me. You came to my rescue and began yelling at him. You told him to leave me alone and threw a rock back. Both of your guys' dads saw. Snotlout's dad said that he didn't want you near him and your dad yelled at you for not fighting like a real Viking then Snotlout took that low blow." He said also reflecting back. "I know that kids make mistakes but as I randomly said yesterday 'scars remain." I said. Hiccup looked at me with a sparkle in his eyes. "One good thing came out of it, though." I looked at him with interest, "Really?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm. "Yeah." Hiccup said and patted my shoulder, gripping it. "We became friends."

I smiled at him sincerely and so did he. It was just a nice moment that finally when he went off into his own world and finally took me with him. It was just one of those moments that just give you the warm fuzzies. The kind of moment that you want to soak up but someone or _something_ ruins it.

The all too familiar screech of a Night Fury rang out and Hiccup jumped a little and I was immediately alert and got up; looking out of the window of the room. I threw one leg over the windowsill and I could hear Hiccup get up, "Al, what are you doing?" He called as I jumped from the window and landed on the saddled-back of Shadow.

He flew out of window sight and high into the air so we wouldn't be seen. "Nice catch... as always." I complimented Shadow who let out a proud huff. He took me out over the sea and dipped his wings into the water. It was fun until Shadow hit something underwater with one of his wings and threw off his balance a little. We spun around to see a Thunderdrum who didn't look too happy.

"Shadow, now might be a good time to take to the skies." I said and Shadow gave a quick nod and flew upwards but even so, the Thunderdrum followed. "We have a stalker!" I said loud enough for Shadow to hear over the loud, whooshing wind. Shadow looked back at the Thunderdrum and shot at its gaping mouth. It wasn't enough to cause serious damage but maybe enough to teach it a lesson. Smoke came out of its now shut mouth and I cocked an eyebrow, "Dragons aren't fireproof inside?" I questioned as the Thunderdrum flew back towards the water.

"Well, that was enough excitement for one day. Let's go." I said and Shadow began flying towards the direction of the cove. "How's the other Night Fury doing?" I asked, Shadow trilled no different than most of the time. I guess he's doing the same as last night. "I see." I said.

I saw someone in the cove and whispered, "Shadow, hide." He dove into the bushes that were around the top of the cove. We peeked through. "Hiccup?" I said actually taking in the figure. Me and Shadow crouched low to the ground and kept a close eye on him. Yeah, and I called the Thunderdrum a stalker.

Hiccup was walking around like he was looking for something. Something we could see clearly. The half-tailed Night Fury crouching on a rock behind him and beginning to crawl down. Hiccup didn't notice until the dragon was half way down. Hiccup was holding something and I barely noticed what it was now; a fish.

He held it out to the Night Fury and he opened his mouth but recoiled away with a growl. Hiccup pulled the fish back in a panic and flipped his fur vest away, showing his knife. He began to reach for it and the Night Fury growled. Hiccup understood and took the knife out, dropping it by his feet. The Night Fury made a gesture for him to get rid of it. Hiccup picked it up with the top of his foot and tossed it into the water, making a small splash.

Once it was gone, the Night Fury became more intruiged with him. His eyes growing soft like a puppy's and he sat back with a single flick of his ear. Everything from then on reminded me of when I found Shadow in the woods when the tooth was lodged in his side and he was bleeding.

It was so similar. The teeth shooting out from their gums when we thought we were seeing things, half of the fish being hacked up for the other to eat. I just want to say that it was pretty funny because even from my angle, I could see the look on Hiccup's face. He shuddered with a disgusted expression that almost made me laugh. Then there was the gummy smile which almost made me laugh again, then Hiccup reached up to pet the Night Fury who bared his teeth and flew away.

Hiccup followed him and the dragon gave a displeased look, turning his back towards him and putting his half-tail in front of him. Hiccup scooted over to the dragon, reaching for his tail. He almost touched it and the dragon picked his tail up, shocking Hiccup enough to where he got up and awkwardly walked away. Shadow and I let out hushed laughter.

A few hours passed without much happening until the Night Fury saw Hiccup sitting on a rock, drawing in the dirt. He made his way over and watched Hiccup draw, head tilted with interest until he got up on two legs and waddled towards a low branch and broke it off. He walked around Hiccup with the branch and imitated the drawing Hiccup was doing, hitting him in the back of the head only once. The dragon was wandering around and at one point, turned around to look at Hiccup for only a second then twisted his head to where he made a dot in the ground and then finished his drawing. He sat down and gave a proud nod to his work.

Hiccup got up, admiring the work as well and accidentaly stepped on it, causing the half-tailed Night Fury to growl at him. He took his foot off and the Night Fury stopped growling. He repeated the movements a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things then finally stepped over the drawing. He spun around, making sure he didn't step on it again until his back almost touched the Night Fury's chest.

Hiccup reached his hand out cautiously towards the Night Fury and he turned his head away, giving a soft growl. Hiccup drew his hand back and the dragon stopped growling. This time, Hiccup put his head down and away then put his hand up to the half-tailed Night Fury who now stared at the hand with a slight wonder. The Night Fury stared for a few seconds and hesitated before placing his snout on Hiccup's palm and Hiccup put his head down farther; out of relief, I suppose.

Hiccup looked up and the Night Fury took only a second for his reaction. He huffed and flew away from him. Hiccup stared at his hand for a second before looking at the ground.

"Shadow, stay." I said and began to walk around to get into the cove as well. I decided to mess with him a little. I climbed in without being noticed until Hiccup turned a corner and walked right into me, that is. I decided to play it off.

"Al!" He said alarmed and attempted to block my vision by standing on his tip-toes. "What are you doing here?" He asked hesitantly. "Looking for you." I responded and looked around, "This is a nice place." He looked around frantically, "Yep, sure is. Let's go." He said and turned me around, he began pushing my back.

"Why are you acting so strangely?" I asked. "I'm not." He said and I planted my feet into the ground, stopping him from pushing me. "Hiccup, what is your deal?" I asked and there was a trill. His eyes widened, "Get out of here!" He whispered and tried pushing me again. "Go." I looked around, "What was that?" I asked.

"I have no idea." He responded in a way that seemed a little sketchy but I was trying to play it off and so far he was oblivious. "Let's just get out of here." He said and motioned to the exit of the cove.

We began walking back to the hall. Even though Hiccup sucks at hiding things, I think it's safe to say that he's got this dragon thing under control.


	9. Chapter 9

Gobber was telling his dragon war stories at dinner. I was right behind him, mocking each movement and lip-synched perfectly.

"He took my hand and swallowed it whole." Gobber said dramatically and I followed along just behind him and to his right. "I saw the look on his face; I was delicious. He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." He said then finally looked back at me with an irritated expression. I sat with one leg crossed over the other and head slightly tilted as if I was wondering why he was looking at me like that but he turned his back towards me again.

Hiccup gave me a knowing smile and shook his head while I lifted my mutton to my mouth and took a bite out of it, listening to Fishlegs' theory about crushing the dragon's heart from the inside; but only if Gobber's mind was still in control of his severed hand.

"I swear I'm so _angry_ right now." Snotlout said. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight... with my face." I rolled my eyes, "What magical fairy kingdom do you live in?" I asked and he blew me off, tearing at his chicken.

"Mm-mm-mm." Gobber disagreed while wiping his face. "It's the wings and tails that you really want. If it can't fly; it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

My eyes grew a little wide as I looked at Hiccup who seemed shocked with the information as well. He checked around to see if anyone was looking at him which they weren't and when he turned my direction, I pretended that I was staring at the fire. I watched him get up and take off down the steps, I didn't follow. If I know Hiccup than I know that he's going to go make something of benefit.

As everyone else began leaving, I stayed and just watched the fire grow smaller and smaller. I looked up at the sky now, it was nice out. A gentle breeze, a soft fire and the call of a Night Fury. Wait, what?

I looked around but saw nothing. I sat patiently and waited to be stolen out of my seat which I didn't have to wait for long since as soon as I thought that, I felt two rough, yet gentle paws wrap themselves around my upper-arms then toss me a little then let me drop onto a swooping, saddle-backed hide.

"Evening, Shadow." I said with a gentle rub to the side of his head which earned me a trill. "What are we doing tonight?" I asked and Shadow flew just above the cliff edges, looking at the passing houses. He finally stopped in the back of one house and sat down once I got off.

"Home?" I asked and looked back at Shadow. Does he remember all of this or does he just pick up on old scents? He brushed past me softly and laid against the wall. The back of my house faced the cliff and sea so no one should see him there unless they were walking along the cliff edges or coming in on a boat that had a high crow's nest.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked curiously but not displeased. He swiped his tail under me, causing me to fall over but I didn't hit the ground, I landed on his tail and he began pulling his tail and me towards him. He placed me down next to him and put a wing over me then curled his head around mine lightly.

I looked at him with confusion etched across my face and he just gave me a soft, closed-mouth smile. This felt really nice just lying here with him, he was so protective, kind, playful and loyal. I've never known dragons to be bad creatures, just misunderstood. Shadow's the first one I actually got to know. If I could show the other Vikings that dragons aren't as bad as we think they are then mabye the war between them would end. I could feel my eyelids begin to get heavy and I began to fall asleep.

We slept in _late_. The sun was high and I was surprised to see Shadow still at my side, covering me with his wing and head curled around mine. He was still peacefully sleeping. I looked around frantically then shook Shadow awake.

"Get up." I whispered and Shadow huffed and drew his wings back to himself. I shook him harder, "Get up." He let out a loud groan and I put my arms over his mouth. "Shh!" He looked at me groggily. "Shadow, we slept in late. We should be grateful no one's seen you yet. Now, go." I said quietly. Shadow got up and stretched with another groan.

"Shadow, be quiet." I whispered and began to push him lightly. "Go." He looked at me then back ahead but didn't move. "Did you not hear me before? You're going to get caught so-" He tossed me into the air and caught me on his back again then flew below the cliff edge. "Well, while we're at it, might as well take me to the arena." I said and Shadow obliged.

He quickly dropped me off then flew away. I went inside and the other were paired together. Hiccup and Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Asterid, and Snotlout and Tuffnut. "What is it today?" I asked defeated.

"Today is about teamwork." Gobber said and right after he did, the door to the Hideous Zippleback's cage burst open with an explosion. "Now a wet dragon head can't light its fire; the Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breaths gas, the other head lights it." He said then handed a bucket of water to me then shoved me into the smoke created from the explosion. "Your job is to know which is which."

"Um, I don't have a partner and today's about teamwork. How does that work out exactly?" I asked. Gobber pinched the bridge of his nose, "Go with a team then." I let out a sigh and began walking through the smoke, able to navigate just by the sounds in it.

I heard something hushed and it seemed like dragon statistics, obviously I've found Fishlegs then Hiccup since he followed up Fishlegs' dragon facts with "Will you please stop that?!" in a hushed shout. I stood next to them and Hiccup noticed and motioned for me to come closer. I stood to both of their backs and Fishlegs didn't notice that I came until I had put my back to his, causing him to jump a little. He turned around, "Oh, it's just you." He said. "Keep your head in the game." I demanded softly and he looked straight ahead again.

"If that dragon shows either of his faces-" Snotlout said but cut himself off, "There!" He shouted then there was the sound of splashing water. "Hey, it's us, idiots!" Ruffnut said. "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon." Tuffnut snickered. "Not that there's anything wrong with a little dragoness fig-ah!" I think it's safe to say that Astrid just punched him. Then a hollow noise sounded out followed by a splash of water; I think Ruffnut just threw her bucket at Tuffnut.

Suddenly, we all heard Tuffnut shout and so did Astrid then the twin boy came racing out of the smoke. "Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" He shouted as he ran off. "Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits, now." Fishlegs said. "Thanks for reassuring us, Fishlegs." I said sarcastically.

There was a snake-like movement in the smoke making its way towards us then a Zippleback head came out and lingered in front of Fishlegs face who began panicking and backing away, dropping most of his water as the head followed him. He finally tossed the water onto the dragon's head but it breathed gas.

"Oh, wrong head." He said and was knocked over by the forced gas pouring out of the Zippleback's mouth.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber called and Fishlegs began running his way, arms straight up in the air.

The head made its way for Hiccup and me. The other head came out and showed a few sparks, "Now, you two!" Gobber called. Hiccup threw his water into the air but it missed, coming straight back down. "Oh, come on." He said and the head lowered itself again.

I was about to throw the water but slipped on Hiccup's spill and fell on my back, the water falling over me. "Well, that was pleasent." I said. "It's been nice knowing you, Hic." I got up and saw the Zippleback ready to jump for Hiccup. I'm pretty sure that if I can handle a Night Fury jumping on me everyday then surely I can take the tackle of a Zippleback.

I shoved Hiccup away from the Zippleback and he fell on his back, the two-headed dragon was about to dive in on me but Hiccup got up, put his hands in front of him and began demanding "Back, back. N-now, don't make me tell you again. That's right, back into your cage. Now, think about what you've done." He said, pushing them back into their cage then shutting it. I was more in shock that he shut those heavy metal doors by himself.

He looked back at everyone who was looking at him absolutely awe-struck. "Okay, so are we done? Because there's somethings I need to-yeah. Yep. See-see ya tomorrow." He said and took off.

I smiled and thought, _Finally finding out more about the dragons, I see. You still need to catch up, boy. I had a week and a half start ahead of you._

"Well, I'm leaving, too." I said and left.

The following days Hiccup had discovered dragon nip, the chin and neck scratch and the light trick. I've also been doing my creepy stalking and watch Hiccup learn more and more about how to fly Toothless. Apparently, that's what he named the dragon. Hey, Hiccup would probably stalk me too if he could keep up.

One day, I decided not to be a creeper and just go flying. Shadow and I were enjoying ourselves and racing through the clouds then dive-bombing for the water in which we saw another Night Fury flying over the icy waters but he wasn't alone, there was a human on his back. Out of all of the times for me and Shadow to go flying, right?

Shadow slowed down suddenly and let them pass ahead a few yards before lowering us to follow, he made sure to be very quiet. Great, I raised to a dragon to be a creepy stalker.

I flinched a little when Hiccup was riding Toothless since he hit him against a stone arch in the water. "Sorry," he said then they hit another. "That was my fault." Then Toothless slapped him with his ear, "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it." He said, looking at a small paper. "Position 4."

They began angling upwards and Hiccup was excited, "Oh, this is amazing!" I heard him say over the whipping winds. It was probably all going well until he shouted "Cheat sheet!"

I heard Toothless bellow and looked up to see them slowly getting larger.

"Shadow, get up there." I said and Shadow flew up as fast as he could which helped since he's a Night Fury. Hiccup was trying to tell Toothless what to do but Toothless was too panicked and swung around, hitting Hicucp in the face with his tail. Shadow and I dashed past the two and began flying downwards now.

"Hiccup!" I said and he looked at me, eyes wide with shock. "Alyssa?!" He shouted back. "I'll answer questions later, just give me your hand!" "But what about Toothless?" He asked, "Just take my hand!" I said and he reached out, grabbing my hand but I didn't pull him up.

"Now for Toothless." I said and Shadow flew in speed with Toothless' falling speed. Toothless looked back at me and a hint of recognition flickered behind his eyes, he looked in Shadow's direction and let out a sort of barking noise. I swung Hiccup over onto Toothless and he hooked his foot into the saddle, turning it so they didn't crash into the mountainous terrain below. I had Shadow follow at the same speed in case of any other issues that may occur. Toothless let out an unsure screech as they were almost crashing into the trees below.

Hiccup pulled the cheat sheet that I wasn't aware that he had put into his mouth, looked at it for a couple of seconds and tossed it, navigating perfectly through stone arches. I was relieved when they made it out on the other side in one piece.

"Yeah!" Hiccup yelled victoriously and threw his hands in the air. Toothless shot out directly in front of them and it turned into a flame. "Come on." Hiccup said. They flew directly through the flame.

The next thing we knew, we were sitting near the ocean and eating fish. It was almost hysterical seeing Hiccup like this. His eyes were bigger than I'd ever seen them before, there was ash on his face and clothes while it was also in his hair which was standing up now. He blinked a few times in what still seemed like disbelief.

"Nice new 'do." I remarked but Hiccup was still in shock and didn't respond much.

My attention was brought to the dragons suddenly. I looked between them and their was obviously a high tension level. They were glaring each other straight in the eye and neither of them blinked. I snapped my fingers in front of Shadow and he looked over to me with a small jump. "Eat." I said simply and he hesitated before eating. Toothless eventually let his guard down and began to eat as well. When I looked up I noticed something, there were small scars on top of Toothless' head that were about the size of Night Fury teeth. There is no way that that is the same Night Fury.

"Hey, Hic, do you have any idea how Toothless got those scars on his face?" I asked and Hiccup looked around, seeing the scars. "No idea." He said.

Toothless started hacking and eventually a fish head came out and he looked at Hiccup expectantly. "Uh, no thanks. I'm good." He said gesturing to his cooking fish. He hesitated and glanced at me a few times before taking a deep breath.

"So, now... Al." Hiccup began. "When you caught me and Toothless you said you'd answer questions. Did you really mean that or are you going to do what you did last time and not answer any questions?" I sat up straight and looked at Hiccup, "I promise you that I will answer any questions you have." Hiccup cocked an eyebrow, "Now, you're not just saying that, right?" "I'm not." I said sincerely.

"O-okay." Hiccup cleared his throat, "How long have you known about Toothless?" "Ever since you cut the ropes on him." I replied. "I saw you do it." Hiccup glanced between the corners of his eyes, "How did- where did you- Huh?" He asked with too many questions at once. "I was there with Shadow since we noticed something strange, we heard a noise, hid and saw you." I said and Hiccup shook it off.

The next question came, "Why didn't you tell me about your Night Fury?" He asked. I looked down then back up at him, "You were so intent with killing a Night Fury that I just didn't want to risk it. I know that it sounds ridiculous but I'll admit that I was paranoid. I didn't want anyone to find him." I admited. "I was thinking about telling you about him soon, though but you found out beforehand which is okay, too."

"Okay," Hiccup thought of another question. "How'd you meet Shadow?" He asked. "Well, remember when we fell off the cliff?" Hiccup tilted in head down a little with a half-smirk, "You mean 'when I pushed you off then jumped', right?" I rolled my eyes playfully, "Yes and when I told you on the way down I landed on a Night Fury later that night; it was this guy." I made a gesture to Shadow. "But as for how we actually met and got to know each other, well, the next day when I went fishing for the whole day I had seen a pair of bright green eyes in the brush and tossed fish to it, sure enough, he came out and for the rest of the day his main focus was food."

"I may know someone like that." Hiccup said, glancing at me. "Shut up, Hiccup. I don't _always_ eat, sometimes I sleep."

"Anyway," I said, getting back to the subject. "You came into the woods calling for me and kind of scared him off and that's when I found you, pounced on you and growled in your ear; causing you to pass out." Hiccup got a slight shiver from looking back on it. "I turned around since I felt breathing on the back of my neck and there was the dragon. He wanted more food and I threw fish on the ground, put us on his back, a fish on the end of the fishing rod and held it in front of his so he'd chase it and flew us almost completely back to Berk. I had to stop before we got too close or else people would see."

"I rode on a Night Fury before I even caught one? I think that's a win." He said, pulling his fish up to his lips. "Yeah but you weren't consious so it doesn't count." I smirked and he rolled his eyes. "That isn't where it ends, either." I continued and Hiccup looked as if saying 'There's more?'

"Yeah, there's more. I found him the next day and this time he had blood on his side seeping from two deep cuts and a few smaller ones. I patched him up, hid him, ecetera." I said, leaning back on Shadow. "Now, let me tell you one last secret about myself." I said and Hiccup looked up at me.

"I've never hated the dragons." I began, "I know that we're Vikings and we're at constantly fighting them and I just never liked it. I never understood it. I never wanted any revenge after my mother was killed, I was never afraid of them but I'll admit that they have shocked me a few times." I said, I was just wondering what he'd say next.

"I've never really hated them either." He admited. "I only wanted to kill one so that way someone would notice me. Selfish reason, I know but you know, I'm kind of glad that I thought that way because if not then I wouldn't have met Toothless."He said rubbing the top of Toothless' head then continued, "When I met Toothless in the woods, seeing him tied up and he was so afraid; it hurt something in me. I saw myself in his eyes."

I got up and sat next to him, gripping his shoulder lightly. "Like I told you not too long ago; you did the right thing." I said with a soft smile. Hiccup looked over his shoulder to me with a smile.

We suddenly had the company of a few minor visitors. Four Terrors came and Hiccup seemed a little shaken by their presence, Toothless didn't want them near his food and growled, Shadow didn't care and continued eating but I, however, simply watched them with a small smile.

They began scampering towards Toothless's fish and he didn't take too kindly to that. One, though, got a hold of the hacked up fish head and another came to take it from her but she noticed and breathed a small burst of fire at the other.

Toothless wasn't amused and suddenly one of his fish stood up and began walking out of the pile. He didn't know what to do until he saw that it was only a Terror. He grabbed the fish with his teeth and it was a short battle of tug-o-war which Toothless obviously won, the Terror only got half of the tail fin and Toothless laughed at him mockingly but Shadow didn't quite agree with him. The Terror wasn't happy with Toothless and spit the tail fin out, swiped his paws on the ground, got ready to shoot but Toothless shot into his mouth and smirked afterwards.

"Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" Hiccup asked and the Terror just wandered around a little, probably trying to walk off the burn.

Shadow gave Toothless a disapproving look and Toothless growled at him. Shadow rolled his eyes and pushed his last fish near the internally burnt Terror. She sniffed it then ate it with a few large bites then the Terror cuddled up at Shadow's paws and who wasn't really sure about that and took a step back but the Terror wasn't about to let him get away and followed him. Shadow huffed and stepped back again but again she followed. Shadow began running around and the Terror was flying after him.

Hiccup and I laughed at the scene in front of us but Toothless huffed and began eating again. The other two Terrors seemed hungry and since Shadow had given up his last fish and Toothless doesn't share with anyone but Hiccup, I tossed the one I was cooking and Hiccup tossed a spare one he had. They both seemed startled but didn't hesitate to eat. They purred and began walking over to us then curled up in a ball by our side.

Hiccup gasped quietly, "Everything we know about you guys... is wrong." He said, petting the Terror who was falling asleep. "You barely notice now, Hiccup?" I asked with a knowing smile which at first shocked him but turned into a smile of his own. "Pretty much."

Shadow raced past us again with a groan and the Terror was still following him. Hiccup and I looked at each other for a brief moment then burst into a fit of laughter.


	10. Chapter 10

It had soon come down to the final competitors for dragon training and each day Astrid grew more and more suspicous. I decided not to go today but to look after Toothless and Shadow today. I mean, no one's going to miss me there. I brought plenty of dragon nip to keep the two calm and off of each other's nerves.

They seem to be tense around each other most of the time but that's only when they remember that the other is there. Shadow has mixed feelings about Toothless, I've noticed. He wanted me to help Toothless with his tail and at the same time he'd growl at him for a stupid desicion made like when he burnt the Terror.

For a while, the two Night Furies rubbed against their own pile of dragon nip; stretching, yawning and letting out soft groans. I sat back and thought about what we'd be doing today when Hiccup got back from dragon training because I think that we should get our dragons better aquainted so they weren't at each other's throats every second they were near the other.

Toothless began fading in and out of consiousness, falling asleep on the dragon nip. Shadow was a little more restless, though. After a while, he began to sniff it then jump away a little then claw at his pile. I cocked an eyebrow, Shadow was one crazy dragon. Well, I've heard that pets begin to take on the characteristics of their owner so I guess it makes sense.

I got up after a while, my butt starting to hurt a little from sitting so long. I walked over to the water and threw water onto my face, I was still half-asleep and I needed a wake-up call. I was slightly alarmed when I felt a presence behind me since I didn't hear anything. I would've turned around if I got the chance but something shoved me into the water.

I threw my head up over the water and looked towards the shore, "Shadow, why would you do something like this to me?" I asked, "Don't you have dragon nip to attend to?" He looked back at his pile which had nothing wrong with it then back at me and sat down at the water's edge.

"Next time, I'm pushing _you_ in the water." I said in a playful grumble and began to climb out but _someone_ didn't let me. Shadow used his head to and shoved me back into the water. He chortled at me.

I huffed and whipped my wet hair out of my face with a pout. "Thanks, Shades." I said sarcastically and got out, dripping wet.

Shadow looked at the sky and then back down at me. He wanted to go flying. I looked between him and Toothless, Toothless may be grounded but he's not defenseless. I thought about how well hidden this cove is. I felt really bad for Toothless. He couldn't fly without Hiccup and I don't know the positions needed for flying him but I could try and improvise, maybe.

I walked over to him. "Toothless." I said softly and he looked up from his pile of dragon nip. "Do you think I could try flying you?" I asked and knelt down. He gave me a skeptical look, he was doubting I could fly him. "Toothless, I know that I'm not the smartest but I could try. I mean, Shadow wants to go flying and I know that you probably don't like being kept here." He looked away from me and laid his head down again.

"Understandable, I wouldn't trust me either." I said and Toothless perked an ear at me. "Shadow, you can go flying without me if you want. I'll stay here with Toothless." Shadow looked between me and Toothless, I looked at Toothless and it would have seemed like they were having a silent conversation; like they were psychic or something.

Shadow flew off, leaving me and Toothless. I sat down, "So, Toothless, how've you been?" He flicked an ear and sighed. "Okay, you don't want to talk. I understand. I can get to talking a little too much sometimes and not many people see this side of me but I can start ranting sometimes and-" Toothless gave me a look that said one thing... 'Shut up'.

"Oh, okay." I said and looked at the ground. Toothless took a deep breath and walked away from me, lying on the other side of the cove.

_Well, it's not like him and Hiccup hit it off well, either._ I thought, thinking about everything that happened between the two and laughed occasionaly.

Toothless suddenly shot his head up flicked his ear; he must have heard something. I looked in the same direction and saw Toothless trying to fly out of the cove. I decided to give him a helping hand and leapt on his back, he turned at growled at me. "Trust me." I said, he kept a glare on me and after a few moments his eyes softened a little and allowed me to get situated before getting him to fly out of the cove.

"Are we doing okay so far, Toothless?" I asked, flying him shakily. He slapped me with his ear. "I'll take that as a 'no'." I said and tried to situate the tail differently, we began tumbling through the sky a little. I angled it again and we began heading straight for a tree.

"No, no, no!" I said and angled the tail again, we began falling. I angled it again and finally got it right. I breathed heavily as Toothless began flying normally. "How does Hiccup do it?" I asked with a look of horror stuck on my face. "What did you hear, Toothless?" I asked, "It must be important if-" I was cut off by a small explosion in the distance. I angled the tail to get Toothless there but I still didn't know how to work it and we began falling, I tried fixing the tail angle to where I had it before and balance Toothless out and I was shocked when I got it working again.

Toothless was relieved and began looking for what made the explosion. He began flying faster and we got there to see nothing. I looked around, "Toothless, did you see anything?" He looked around and saw nothing. "I wonder what it was." I said.

"What do we do now?" I asked and Toothless let out a long sigh. "Do you want to try flying some more? In case something ever happens to Hiccup so I can direct you?" Toothless didn't like the sound of that and groaned loudly. "I'll try and land you, then I guess." I said and Toothless didn't like the sound of that even more since he groaned louder and began flapping his wings harder.

"So I'll try and learn how to fly you and I'm a first timer at this so you can't get mad at me." I said and Toothless didn't respond. I angled the tail down and we began flying upwards, I angled it up and we began going down, left is still left and right is still right.

"So far, so good. We aren't tumbling or losing balance anymore so that's progress." I said. Toothless didn't respond again. I kept the tail down and we flew higher, "This is really nice, Toothless. It's like a bonding time for us." I said. He didn't respond. Shadow at least _tries_ to talk back, I wonder where he went. I also hope he's okay.

"Toothless, what's up with you and Shadow?" I asked, keeping the tail steady and flying him straight. Toothless stiffened a little when I mentioned Shadow and huffed. "Shadow seems to care about you but does get irritated with you at times. You only seem irritated with him. What's up with that?" Toothless, once again, huffed.

"Maybe we could try and work things out between you two. We're going to need you guys to at least cooperate with each other if we're going to make it through this dragon/human war." Toothless seemed to consider what I'd said but other than that showed no response.

I've been flying Toothless for hours just to make sure that I had the positions right and making sure they matched with different speeds. So far, everything works. It was nice and dark now, Toothless seemed to enjoy it as well. "And you doubted me." I said with a cocked eyebrow. Toothless looked back at me as if to say 'I still doubt you.'

My face fell as I wasn't amused with this. "I think we're ready to land now." I said and was about to turn him around but he suddenly shook his tail, wanting me to leave it alone. "Um, Toothless, I think we're done. Let's go land." I said, we began manuvering through a mist with tons of other dragons. I heard a human voice and Toothless heard it too. I angled us so we could get to where the voice was and I saw another Night Fury, not just any Night Fury, though. It was Shadow and I know him anywhere.

"Hey, Shadow." I said quietly and his eyes lit up when he saw me, he trilled and I rubbed his neck. "What is it, Shadow?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I angled Toothless around so we could see him. "Hiccup, what are you doing here?" I asked, his eyes widened when he saw me. "You're flying Toothless?" He asked a little alarmed and Astrid was as well. "Yeah, Hiccup. I've spent most of the day learning the positions of the tail and they're all memorized." Hiccup nodded a little, "I've been showing Astrid that dragons aren't as bad as they seem." Astrid had her chin resting on his shoulder. "Oh." I said.

"Toothless was a little angry with me when we almost crashed." I admited and Toothless huffed. Hiccup smiled, "Shadow went insane while you were gone." I glanced at Shadow who wasn't taking his eyes off of me. "How so?" I asked, "Well, he tried to kill Astrid, he didn't want her on his back, he shot at her and made a small explosion,"

_So that's what that was._ I thought, referring to the explosion that occurred while looking for whatever Toothless was after.

"When we were flying he was spinning and swerving and diving into the water. He went absolutely crazy." Hiccup said. "And?" I asked as if it was nothing new. "He went crazy, that's it." He said. "Oh."

All of the dragons began swerving, dove and flew into the opening of a mountain or volcano. It was blazing red on the inside, hot, stuffy and all of the dragons that were hauling in kill were dropping it into the bottom and we watched it disappear into the smoke. There were so many dragons here and they must be dropping their food down there for a reason.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Hiccup said. Toothless and Shadow flew behind a few stalagmites and looked down at the dragons dropping their kill. "They aren't eating any of it." I said. "I'm satisfied to know all of our food's being dropped down a hole." Hiccup commented.

A Gronckle came up, opened its mouth and a small fish slid off of its tongue and into the hole. It scratched the back of its head with one of its hind legs and was about to fly off but a beast came up and swallowed it. All dragons recoiled at its appearance and squeezed together. Hiccup, Astrid and I were all wide-eyed.

The beast's throat rumbled as it lowered itself back into the hole but its head came back up and looked at us. "Come on, boy, we've gotta get out of here." Hiccup said and the beast was about to jump at us but we flew away but that didn't stop it from trying again, all of the other dragons were flying off in fear of it as well.

We got back to Berk without any troubles or any wounds. "It makes sense!" Astrid said, "It's like a giant beehive; they're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them, let's find your dad."

I got off of Toothless and stroked his head, he was calm and then I looked over to Shadow who was a little shaken by the whole thing. I went over to him and before I could put a comforting hand on him, he pushed his head against me softly with a soft trill. I was comforting him all I could and he seemed to be calming down pretty fast.

I looked over at the two speaking just to see Astrid kiss Hiccup's cheek, "That's for... everything else." She said and took off. Toothless stood next to Hiccup and looked at him, "Ah, w-what are you looking at?" He asked and Toothless looked away.

Shadow didn't seem to be too happy with that kiss and nudged me from behind, like he wanted me to tell Hiccup something. "What?" I asked in a whisper. Shadow let out a soft groan and nudged me again, making a head gesture towards Hiccup. Okay, either this dragon was really smart or it is really obvious that I like Hiccup or both.

"Hiccup. I have to tell you something." I said and Hiccup was all ears. "Well, Hic, I'm afraid for the dragons." Shadow did a swift turn, hitting me in the back of the head with his tail. "That was a sign of affection, Hic. Don't worry about it." I said. Shadow groaned, got up and shook his head.

"I'm afraid for them, too." He said. "Especially if Toothless gets into any type of trouble, he can't fly without me." Shadow began walking around us and got behind Hiccup. "I know, Hiccup." I said, "I'm afraid for him, too." I said as I looked at Toothless, who was back to drinking water.

"Uh, Hic?" I said and before he could ask 'what?' he was lifted by Shadow's head and lips collided, I jumped back and he leapt off of Shadow and looked away. I put my back to him and pinched the bridge of my nose. I looked at Shadow through the corner of my eye and he inspected me closely, almost like he was dreading the answer. I looked back and saw that Hiccup\p had his hands on his hips with his back to me as well.

"Toothless, let's go." Hiccup said softly and tried to climb onto Toothless but he jumped away from him. "Toothless, stop messing around." He said. He reached for Toothless again who began running my way now. I tried to step away but Toothless hit me from behind with his tail and sent me into Hiccup again but this time it was a brief moment of eye contact. His face was red and he was breathing slightly heavier than he should be. He's embarrassed... might as well not make this anymore awkward than it needs to be.

"Sweet dreams, Hic." I said and turned around. I was ready to walk back home if I had to. I couldn't believe that Shadow had done that, they probably thought they were trying to help. When Hiccup's lips touched mine it didn't feel like I'd thought it would, it just felt like flesh hitting flesh. I could just be speaking from inexperience but there was nothing 'magical' or 'mind-blowing' about it. It may have also been because it wasn't intended by either us and it was Shadow's doing. All 'romantic' or whatever kind of feelings that I had were beginning to fade but I could still feel a strong bond towards him. Strangely, enough I wasn't heartbroken in the least. I guess we were meant to be just friends after all. That's just as good, he's been for me all of these years and I couldn't imagine having a better friend then him... okay, he may be tied in first place with Shadow. Actually, he's just behind him. Sorry, Hic but it seems like Shadow's the new number one.

Speaking of Shadow, he leapt up next to me with a questioning trill and made a head gesture back to where Hiccup had been. I smiled at him, "Thanks for waking me up, Shadow. Hiccup and I aren't meant to be together." I said and Shadow actually seemed relieved. What was that about? Maybe I'm just bad at reading emotions.

"What now?" I asked him and Shadow nuzzled me with his head. I pet the top of his head, "You're a good boy, Shadow." I said and placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. He gave a slimy lick to the side of my face which caused me to laugh and I wiped my face with my sleeve.

"Well, Shades, I'm kind of tired. I don't know about you." I said while stretching. Shadow tossed me onto his back and began flying off. I hurriedly grabbed onto Shadow's reigns since it was so sudden. He flew back to Berk and landed behind my house again.

I looked around and most Vikings were busy talking about how they thought Hiccup would kill a dragon tomorrow. Shadow heard them and let out a growl, "Shh!" I hushed him and he stopped. "We can't take the risk tonight." I said and looked around more; I looked at the door's size and then Shadow's.

"Come inside." I whispered and pushed the door open, it should be large enough. Shadow's eyes widened a little and he looked at me, then the door, then back at me. "Go ahead." I said and he took two cautious steps towards it then looked back at me for reassurance. I nodded and he walked inside with me following.

It was a little dark inside and we could only see what was lit up by the fires that were lit outside. Shadow easily navigated through, though and I eventually found the fireplace in the dark room, "Shadow, could you light this?" I asked. His green eyes flashed towards me and he shot out a very small shot that was just enough to start the fire. "Thanks." I said.

He smiled, satisfied with himself and laid down. I threw in some more wood into the fireplace and looked over at Shadow, lying next to the fireplace. I was about to sit on the couch but something began pushing me back up, I looked back and saw Shadow's tail. I looked at him and he made a head gesture for me to lie down with him.

I cocked an eyebrow and smiled at him, "Fine." I said and he moved to the side slightly. I lied down with his and he repeated the position that we were in the last time we slept together; wrapping his head lightly around mine, throwing a wing over me and his tail next to my side.

"I was pretty worried about you." I said, Shadow trilled. "Toothless isn't much of a talker. Kind of boring." Shadow held back a chortle. "Either way, I feel like Toothless and I have gotten closer. Soon, we'll take care of all of that tension between you two. I hope." I said, eyelids fluttering a little.

"Good night, Shadow. Sweet dreams." I said, and he trilled softly. We cuddled closer together and fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

I got Shadow out of the house just before sunrise so no one would see him. He was a little reluctant but he left anyway, I'll admit that having him in the house gave a feeling of safety.

Also, Hiccup had asked me this morning to come and see his final exam. He said that if he needed help then he needed me and Astrid to be there for him.

The crowd cheered as Stoic gave a speech about how proud he was of Hiccup. "Scared?" I asked as I leant against a wall. "Petrified." He responded and Astrid came in, "Be careful with that dragon." She said. "It's not the dragon I'm worried about." He said. "What are you going to do?" Astrid asked. "I'm going to put an end to this." He replied. "I have to try."

"You guys, if something... goes wrong just make sure that they don't find Toothless." He said, "I will. Just promise me it won't go wrong." Astrid said. I looked away, "I'll do my best."

"Hiccup, it's time. Knock 'em dead." Gobber came in and said. The crowd went wild as Hiccup came out with his Viking helmet on. He went over to the weapons and picked up a shield and small knife.

"I'm ready." He said.

The door to the Nightmare's cage burst open and its entire cage was ablaze along with its body. It roared and scaled the chains at the top of the arena and along the walls. It breathed fire out at the audience and they moved so they didn't get burnt.

The Nightmare slowly stepped towards Hiccup who was taking small steps back, dropping the knife then the shield. The audience was letting out confused grunts and mutterings.

"It's okay." Hiccup said to the Nightmare softly. "I'm not one of them." He finally said. He removed his helmet and threw it aside; the dragon looked at him with interest. The audience gasped. "Stop the fight." Stoic demanded, "No." Hiccup said, "I need you all to see this." He put his hand out to the Nightmare. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

Stoic got up angrily, "I said 'STOP THE FIGHT!'" He shouted and banged his hammer against the railing of the arena. The sound reverberated and startled the Nightmare who was now ready to kill Hiccup. It snapped its jaws at his hand and Hiccup pulled away and began to run.

"Hiccup." I silently gasped and looked around for something to use to open the gate. An axe. "Astrid, step aside." I said, she understood and moved, letting me prop it open. We both squeezed in and Hiccup ran to get another shield but the Nightmare had stomped on the weapon stand, Hiccup ran away again.

Astrid picked up a hammer and tossed it at the Nightmare's head, hitting it square in the jaw and knocking it over a little. I ran to Hiccup and kept him in front of me, making sure that if the dragon attacked from behind then it'd only attack me.

The gate opened and Stoic called "This way!" I ran over there with Hiccup but fire had shot right at the gate that we were about to enter and I ran around it and tossed Hiccup out, I was about to get out as well but the Nightmare grabbed the back of my vest and dragged me back. I slipped it off and began running back again but the Nightmare had pinned me from behind with one of its hind legs.

_Was this it?_ I began reflecting on so much. I reflected on how I defended Hiccup when we were young that one time. The look on my dad's face every time I did anything. The day I met Shadow, the day I patched him up. That time when I tossed Hiccup over to Toothless as they were falling, seeing the dragon's nest. So much had happened and it's going to end like this?

I shut my eyes and waited to be burnt to a crisp but instead I heard a couple of screeches that caused my eyes to shoot open.

A bang hit the side of the arena and filled it with smoke, I felt the weight on my back lift and the sounds of two dragons fighting... wait, there was more than two. I saw the figures through the smoke and began to speed-walk backwards.

The smoke began to clear and there was Toothless and Shadow. Shadow had a grip on the Nightmare's back, digging his claws and fangs into it while Toothless was taking more of a direct approach; biting at the muzzle and swiping at it of sorts. At one point the Nightmare had rolled over and Shadow let go, joining Toothless' side. They spread their wings and screeched at the Nightmare, also making sure that it didn't get around to attack me.

The Nightmare decided that it probably wasn't the best idea to fight the Night Furies and recoiled, drawing back and scurrying away.

Hiccup jumped away from his father and Astrid, running to Toothless. "Toothless, you've gotta get out of here, bud." He said as he pushed on him. "Shadow, you can't stay here." I said, he turned and looked at me. He picked me up on his back and began to fly off but the Vikings that weren't jumping into the arena to get Toothless had tackled Shadow and me to the ground.

Two Vikings were holding me and about five had a hold on Shadow. "Shades, I'm so sorry about this." I said to him. His eyes were apologetic as well. Suddenly the grips on one of the Vikings became too strong and caused me a little pain, making me hiss. Shadow's eyes had changed from apologetic to dangerous. He threw his wings out and tossed one Viking off of his head. There was one that had an axe held to his tail and I saw it come down.

I was being held by two large Vikings on either side of me so there was nothing I could do but watch. But Astrid was able to do something. She tackled the axe away from the Viking and threw it away into the arena. The Vikings were shocked by her actions and loosened their grip a little. Shadow had noticed this and broke from the other two Vikings, snatched me up and tossed me onto his back, grabbed Astrid by her upper arms and flew off.

We flew away from the arena and I reached over, grabbing her hand and hefting her up onto Shadow's back. "I just wanted to thank you." I said. "For what?" She asked. "You pretty much saved Shadow back there when you tackled the axe away from that one Viking."

"What about Toothless and Hiccup?" She asked. "I don't know what to do about them but hopefully something can be figured out." I said honestly. "There's got to be something we can do about this."

Shadow flew into the cove and landed, letting me and Astrid off. "We'll stay here until things die down." I said, scanning the area suspiciously. "How long would that take?" Astrid asked after a moment of silence. "It could be a while." I said and sat down. I patted the space on the rock next to me for Astrid to sit down but she didn't. "I don't think I can. There's a lot going on out there and we're just sitting here." I gave a slow nod, "I understand but we're only waiting for things to subside for now then we'll be able to take action."

We kept in each other's company and waited through the silence. Not even a bird chirped. Shadow waited patiently for the moment we could finally move out. Astrid occasionally cleared her throat and wiped her hair out of her face, she eventually tried to make conversation.

"How've you been lately?" She asked. "I think I'm okay." I said. "What do you think about Hiccup?" She asked. "He's a good friend." I said. "You know what I mean." She said. "I don't have romantic feelings for him any longer." I said. "Any longer?" She asked.

"I got over them a long time ago."

"Yesterday?"

"Maybe." I confessed. "You and Hiccup look really cute together." I said honestly. "Huh?!" She asked with alarm. "_You... and Hiccup... look cute... together._" I said with emphasis. She gulped a little. "As long as you're both happy then you guys will be fine." I smiled sincerely.

"So... do you have a plan?" I nodded. "Could you tell me at least a little bit of it?" She asked. I scratched the back of my neck, "Truth is, the plan is to ask Hiccup what to do. Hiccup's always been the man with the plan so we wait here then go talk to him. He does his best work when under pressure." I said then Astrid facepalmed.

A short, awkward silence came between us again and I got up, "Should be clear by now." I said as I got on Shadow's back, Astrid got on as well. "Let's go." I said and Shadow raced out of the cove and towards the dock.

It was ridden of any and every ship there and on a nearby cliff stood Hiccup. Shadow flew up to him and landed. Hiccup seemed to be off in his own world again but I can't say that I blame him. Astrid got off of Shadow and was the first to speak.

"Wow, you must feel terrible. You lost your father, your tribe, your best friend." Hiccup wasn't amused. "Thank you for summing that up." He said sarcastically. "Why couldn't I have just killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? It would've been easier for everyone."

"The rest of us would've done it. Why couldn't you?" She asked him, Shadow and I both huffed. "Okay, why couldn't Hiccup do it?" She asked, looking at us and I gave her a thumbs up, Shadow let out a soft huff.

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?" He asked. I got off of Shadow and whispered into his ear, "Listen, if Hiccup tells you to do something then do it." I said, Shadow seemed confused but nodded regardless.

"What are you going to do now?" She asked. "Eh, probably something stupid." He responded. "I'm pretty sure that that's been done already." I said, he obviously figured out a plan. "Use Shadow if anyone is in need of convincing." I said and pet Shadow's side. "You guys go wait at the arena." Hiccup said and got on Shadow's back, "Thanks for the lift." He said, "Let's go." He said and Shadow flew off.

"Let's go." Astrid said and I nodded to her.

We were back at the arena and waited for Hiccup. He was there before long on Shadow's back and the other teens followed not too far behind him. Hiccup had gone a reasonable pace to where they could follow and not lose sight.

"Okay, people." I said, "Listen to Hiccup or else Shadow is going to burn you like wood in a fireplace." Shadow bared his teeth in a dark smirk. Hiccup clasped his hands together, "Okay, everyone, here's the plan..." He explained it with detail and the plan seemed perfect. It was which dragon was going to who and they were matched up so well and how they'd use that dragon. Sure, there was a few 'what-if's and 'how-do-you-expect-us-to-do-that's but it was still an amazing plan and a few of the teens nodded to each other.

"Hiccup, release the kraken!" I said and the teens looked at me. Shadow smacked a paw to his face. "The Nightmare, you mean?" He asked. "Yeah." I said.

Hiccup opened the door to the cage and put a hand near the Nightmare's snout. He followed him out, never moving past his hand or showing Hiccup a negative reaction. I had a hand on my hip and smirked at the other teens who were only staring in awe at the scene unfolding in front of them.

I began walking around, releasing the other dragons. The Gronckle was half-asleep, the Zippleback was fighting with itself, the Nadder didn't see me until I moved into her line of sight and she stepped out slowly, and also the Terror who was asleep. "Hey, girl." I said to her and she stretched out then looked at me. "Come on." I said and gestured to the open door.

She walked out and purred. I smiled at her and began to think; she stayed inside of the cage even though she could move in and outside of it freely. She must have felt safer in here since larger dragons couldn't get in to hurt her. She flew away and I watched the poor, lone girl fly off and right before I let go of the doggie-door about twenty other Terrors flew out and I fell to my side while covering my head.

Everyone turned to watch the many Terrors fly away and I sat up, shaking off what just happened. Shadow walked over to me and sniffed me over, making sure I was okay and once he saw that I was, he tossed me onto his back then turned towards Hiccup.

"You're going to need something to help you hold on." Hiccup said once all of the dragons were out. He held out some rope and everyone looked at the dragons.

Everyone was waiting on their dragon and Hiccup was situated with Astrid on the Nadder. They stood at the gate; Hiccup threw a fist in the air. "Let's ride!"


	12. Chapter 12

We approached the island on our dragons, just to see the towering dragon that emerged from the nest. The same one that we'd seen the night before. It was about to breath out a surely devastating fire. "Al, now." Hiccup said, "Shoot." I said into Shadow's ear and he shot at the back of the large dragon's head.

"Nice shot." I complimented Shadow. We flew around the dragon and the Vikings stared at us in awe. "Look at us, we're on dragons!" Tuffnut shouted.

"Fishlegs, break it down." Hiccup said. Fishlegs observed the dragon, "Okay, heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing, steer clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils; relies on hearing and smell." I smirked and felt Shadow begin to shiver with excitement. "Nice." I whispered.

"Okay; Nout, Legs, get in its blind spot, make noise and keep it confused. Ruff, Tuff; figure out its shot limit. Make it mad." Hiccup said. "That's my specialty." Ruffnut said, "Since when?" Tuffnut asked, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating, see?" He turned his Zippleback's head upside down and made blubbering noises. "Just do what I told you." Hiccup said.

"Al, come with me and Astrid. Shadow's going to have to keep a hold on his shots for now. Everyone else, I'll be back as soon as I can." He said and we began flying away. "Don't worry, we got it covered!" Snotlout said.

Shadow and I began searching through the boats again with Hiccup and Astrid then Hiccup found him, "There." He said and we began flying towards it. The Nadder hovered over the boat and Hiccup jumped off onto the boat. "Astrid, go help the others!" He called over the flames. Astrid obeyed and flew off.

"Let's try and get this off." He said and took a muzzle off of Toothless. "Shadow, Al. Help me out here." He said and began pulling on the wooden restraint around Toothless' neck. I reached over and began to pull on the restraint and Shadow wasn't sure how, he seemed afraid that he might hurt Toothless.

Hiccup tried picking up a wooden stake and cramming it in to break the restraint from the inside but the large dragon had thrown a fit about something and threw one of its paws down on the ship, sinking it. Toothless was still tied up and I began to swim down with Hiccup to try and get him loose again. Hiccup pulled on the chains for a moment then began to lose consiousness then I saw something snatch him away, Toothless gurgled a devastated roar.

I tried to rip the restraints off again but I felt something clamp onto the back of my clothes and bring me to shore. I looked back and saw Shadow, he looked back at the water where there was a splash and barely a moment later, Toothless came up out of the water and onto land, carrying Stoic in his paws and dropped him off on shore.

He shook the water off of himself then made a head gesture towards the large dragon, looking at Hiccup. "You got it, bud." He said and climbed on him. I quickly climbed onto Shadow's back and leaned over, ready for take off. The large dragon roared again. "Hiccup." Stoic stopped him and Hiccup glanced at me. "Al, go on without me." Hiccup said, "Of course. Let's go!" I said, understanding him and flying off on Shadow's back.

Shadow raced towards the large dragon and the teens, then we suddenly heard "He's up!" I looked back to make sure that they didn't mistake Shadow for Toothless and thank goodness, they didn't. "You two, get Snotlout out of there!" Astrid called to the twins. "Al, just come with me."

"Right." I said and kept Shadow close to her and the Nadder. Wait, she just used my nickname. It's usually just 'Hey, you' or something like that. What is she becoming comfortable with me or something?

We flew around the dragon's head and then it began inhaling deeply, sucking back Astrid and I along with the dragons. I saw a black figure not too far from us. "Hold on, Astrid!" I said, bracing myself. Shadow suddenly dashed upwards just as a Night Fury shot hit the dragon in the jaw.

I heard Astrid scream and looked down, she was falling. "Shadow, get her!" I said and he began to dive for her then we swooped and the screaming stopped. I looked under Shadow and saw that he grabbed her by her upper arms. "Hey, Astrid. How's it hanging?" I asked, Shadow looked down at her, too and gave a closed-mouth smile while making a soft trilling noise. She shook her head at me but smiled nonetheless.

"Okay, put her down gently." I said and Shadow flew slowly across the ground, letting her down gently. "Stay out of trouble." I said to her and Shadow zoomed off, flying towards Toothless and Hiccup who had passed us when we slowed down.

"Al, the dragon has wings. You think it can use them?" He asked. I examined the wings, "Probably could." "Okay. Now, I want you to hide in the clouds. Deep in them where it should be dark, almost like night." I saw where that was going. "Okay, if it doesn't work then I'll have Toothless call out for you guys to come back down." I nodded, "I understand. Let's go." Shadow quickly began to fly straight up into the air.

"Hide deep in the clouds." I repeated. "It should also be pretty thick considering the skies right now. It'll be on our advantage since I really doubt that that huge dragon can see in the dark, especially since Fishlegs broke it down saying that it relies on hearing and smell." I said it all out loud and Shadow turned to me with a smirk, he huffed a little in excitement.

Shadow and I hovered in place, waiting for a signal then one came. "Al, follow me." Hiccup said as him and Toothless flew past me. Shadow turned and kept in pace with them. "The big guy can fly then?" I asked and Hicucp nodded. "We got him following us, here he comes." He said, looking at a figure that kept getting larger until the gigantic dragon emerged from the thickness of the dark clouds.

It tried to look for us in the dark, moving its head slowly as it examined each and every movement made. It grew frustrated and let out a couple of roars and turned its back to us. "I'll fire first and after that, plan each shot carefully. If anything goes wrong I'll have Toothless call." Hiccup said softly. I nodded, "And we'll be there." I said.

"Toothless, shoot." He said then Toothless did as commanded. The shot hit the dragon in the back of the head then they flew past him. "Shadow, wait for him to turn around. Charge up for now." I said then the dragon slowly turned around. "Go." I said, Shadow sped for the face, shot it then swerved downwards.

A shot hit one of the wings on the huge dragon, Shadow began flying back up. "Shoot its underbelly." I said and Shadow shot it again then flew back into the clouds, we waited for a moment and Toothless shot the other wing, "Now, the neck." I said, Shadow charged up for a brief moment then shot. The gigantic dragon roared in frustration again and charged up a blast.

"Shadow, disappear." I said and he swerved into the clouds again. The fire was spiraling as was the dragon and Toothless called. "Shadow, go to Toothless." He twitched his ears a few times then began swooping, he called back. "Times up!" I heard Hiccup yell. "Fly behind the dragon so you don't get hurt and if anything goes wrong then you'll be able to get away easily." "Right." I called back and just then Hiccup flew Toothless right in front of the dragon's face, getting its full attention and began flying downwards. The large dragon followed so it didn't lose them again.

Shadow flew only yards from the large dragon's devastating tail. It began to make a hissing screech, it was charging up then I heard Hiccup yell "Now!" then there was the sound of a burst and the dragon quickly withdrew its wings and let out a roar of distress.

The huge dragon saw the ground below and spread his wings which strangely began to become full of growing holes that seemed to being burnt into them. Its wings obviously didn't work and it let out another roar just before crashing into the ground and an explosion spread all across of its body.

I looked desperately for Hiccup and Toothless which sure enough, they began flying towards us. "Just a little farther." I whispered and right after I did Toothless' artificial tail broke off and they began to lose their balance then they saw the dragon's bashing tail.

"No, no, no!" Hiccup shouted and tried to fly Toothless into a different direction but it didn't work and Hiccup was knocked off of Toothless. He began falling, Toothless spun through the air, watching Hiccup and he let out a concerned bark, it seems then began to fly downwards.

"Hiccup!" I shouted and the explosion began to reach for us, "Shadow, get out of here!" I said and when we turned around we had almost flown right into the tail but we swerved out of the way and made it out of there alive, I can only hope that Toothless had saved Hiccup and was safe himself.

"Shadow, let's go down." I said. Shadow flew downwards but kept his eyes on the explosion, he was watching any movement that could have indicated that the two were okay. "They'll be fine." I tried to convince him and also myself. "We don't have to worry about them."

We landed on the ground and a few of the teen Vikings rushed up to me, "Where's Hiccup?" "Where'd he go?" "Is he okay?" All of the questions surrounded me and Stoic stepped up between them, "Let her speak." He said softly and they calmed down almost immediately. "Well, what happened?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Hiccup and Toothless were flying and hit the dragon's tail, Hiccup was knocked unconsious and Toothless flew after him. They disappeared into the explosion." They put their heads down.

The ash and smoke began to clear a little. "I'll look for them now that it's clearing up a bit." Stoic jumped to the action as well, "And I'll help." He said and began searching. "Hiccup!" Stoic called. "Hiccup! Hiccup!" I called too, "Hiccup! Toothless!" Shadow let out a screech to call for them. We looked all through the ash and finally saw Toothless lying down.

We approached him and saw that the saddle had burns and tears in it from the fire, the fake half of his tail was gone and he rolled on his side with a soft groan. Stoic fell to his knees, "Oh, son." He said softly. "I did this." He said. I felt my heart drop. Shadow rubbed his nose against Toothless' head and softly purred, Toothless opened his eyes slowly and gave Shadow a confused expression. Shadow gave a sad smile when Toothless opened his eyes but frowned again when he saw that Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.

The other Vikings began approaching slowly but kept a far distance from Stoic, Toothless, Shadow and I. All of the Vikings and dragons seemed to be mourning. I stepped up to Toothless and placed a hand on the side of his head. "You were amazing." I whispered softly, "You did your best." Toothless gave one very slow nod.

Stoic looked up at Toothless. "I'm so... I'm so sorry." He appologized. Toothless inspected Stoic's face and then mine and Shadow's, he seemed to understand. He rolled to the side a bit and opened his wings, showing Hiccup to us.

"Hiccup!" Stoic said softly and rushed to the dragon. He picked up his son and brushed hair out of his face a couple of times. He took off his helmet then put his head to Hiccup's chest. "Ha, he's alive." He said, "You brought him back alive."

Everyone released their breath and my heart began to beat again. Everyone cheered for Hiccup's life, Shadow smiled and turned his head upwards into the air, he let out a shot that exploded above us. Stoic placed his hand gently on Toothless' head, "Thank you for saving my son." He said.

Gobber then walked over and said, "Well, you know, most of him." Stoic gave him a glare, I wondered what he was talking about and looked back at Hiccup, he was missing a leg.


	13. Chapter 13

"Shadow, calm down, would you?" I laughed as he pounched past me. "We can't just jump on Hiccup when he wakes up, you know? He's going to need to adjust to everything a little." Shadow smiled in spite of himself and lowered himself to the ground, beginning to stalk his way over to Hiccup's house. "That works, too." I said and crouched down beginning to stalk with him.

As I approached the house, I saw Toothless outside with his head on his paws as he waited for the door to open. His ears immediately perked when he saw me and Shadow then he ran up to us with his tail wagging a bit. "Hey, Toothless." I said and pet the top of his head, Shadow greeted him with a playful nudge of the head.

Ever since after the battle with the Green Death we later named it, the two Night Furies have gotten along just fine; playing together, eating together and during the day they even napped together. It was amazing that after the fight that their feelings towards each other changed. It was a relief to not pry them off of each other's throats.

"Come on, I bet you guys that Hiccup's waking up today." I said and opened the door. The Night Fury's walked through the door and Toothless inspected Hiccup for a moment, sniffing him then he backed his head away with a soft huff then put his head back toward Hiccup slightly with a soft growl.

Shadow looked eagerly over the bed and his tail began to wag. I walked in and shut the door behind me softly. Hiccup's eyes fluttered open slowly and Toothless let out a happy groan then began to nudge the side of Hiccup's head softly, Hiccup put his hands up with a smile. "Hey, Toothless." He said, Toothless then grew a little rougher, "Yeah, I missed you, too, bud." Toothless accidentally stepped on him and Hiccup shot up and held onto his stomach with a pained groan, Toothless was alarmed and jumped off. Hiccup's eyes widened, "Uh..." He wanted to form words but nothing came out.

He examined the room, "Uhh... I'm in my house." He said, then looked back to Toothless, who had just licked his lips and his tail wagged. "You're in my house." He said. "Way to go, Captian Obvious." I said and made my way over to him. He barely noticed me, "And _you're_ in my house?" He asked then Shadow nudged him from behind, "You too?" Hiccup asked, "Since when did my house become the place for a celebration?" He asked giving me a sarcastic look.

Toothless was very excited about Hiccup's awakening and began to jump around the house, tongue hanging out of his mouth and knocking over a few things.

"Okay, while you're here-" He tried to reason with his excited dragon. "Oh, o-okay, okay. Tooth-Toothless." He said, not really finding out what he wanted to tell him, Toothless jumped on one of the posts across the celing. "Oh, come on." He said about to get up but suddenly his eyes widened and something stopped him, he lifted the covers and looked down somewhat sadly at what he'd seen.

Toothless jumped down and tilted his head at Hiccup, trilling somewhat roughly. Hiccup was in shock for a moment and put his legs on the ground. I say 'legs' because he now had an artificial leg. He looked at me, Toothless and Shadow as if for an answer.

"A-Al, w-w-what- H-how did-?" He asked and eventually cut himself off, "You were knocked out by the Green Death's tail and fell. Toothless dove in to save you and you came out like that." Hiccup gulped and looked at Toothless, "He had you protectively wrapped in his wings. It was surprising and you gave everyone quite the scare." I said, folding my arms. "Who did-?" He asked gesturing to the leg. "I did with a little dash of Gobber's help since he know's a lot about this stuff." I laughed and Hiccup let out a huff of laughter but it didn't last for long, "I may just tinker with it a little." He said and I nodded, "Go ahead." I said, "Let's try it out and make sure it works."

Hiccup took a few deep breaths, "O-okay." He said, getting up. He took a single step with a limp and I kept my eyes on him. He took another step and fell over, thankfully, Toothless caught him. Toothless lifted him back up and let Hiccup drape an arm over him so he didn't fall. "Okay, thanks, bud." He said.

While they were walking away, I looked down for some reason and saw Toothless' half tail sway behind Hiccup's new leg. I sighed and Shadow had noticed it, too and gave an awkward gummy smile, making me laugh a little.

We looked back at Hiccup who was now opening his door and as soon as he did, a Nightmare flew in front of his door and he hurriedly slammed it. "Toothless, stay here, bud." He said then opened the door again.

"Come on, guys. You ready?" Snotlout called and flew past, a few other following him. Hiccup stared at the new Berk and shrugged. "I knew it. I'm dead." He said, I rolled my eyes playfully.

"No, but you gave it your best shot." Stoic said, putting a hand on his shoulders. "So, what do you think?" He asked. The Vikings noticed Hiccup and cheered, "Hey, look! It's Hiccup!" They all came up to greet him. "Turns out, all we needed was a little of this." Stoic said, gesturing to Hiccup. "You just gestured to all of me." Hiccup said. Stoic nodded with gleaming eyes.

Shadow looked at the crowd and back at me, he seemed like he wanted to leave. I looked at the crowd that surrounded Hiccup and sighed, getting on Shadow's back. "Sure, let's go riding." I said, Shadow smiled at spread his wings.

Hiccup looked back at us then to his dad. "U-uh, Dad, actually, Al was the first one to befriend a dragon as far as I know." Stoic cocked an eyebrow and looked at me. "She did?" Hiccup looked back at me again, "Yeah, while I still wanted to kill dragons she was protecting one." I dropped my head, "I'm so dead." I muttered. Shadow was ready to fly away but Stoic said "Then we could celebrate both of you. You for killing the Green Death and her for being the first to befriend a dragon."

"How does that sound Al?" Hiccup asked. I looked at the ground and thought for a minute. "Sounds like I'm having barbecue tonight!" I said excitedly and when I said 'barbecue', Shadow shot straight in front of him and Vikings stood clear of the shot. I chuckled nervously, "Sorry about that." I said and Hiccup laughed a little.

"Oh, Hic. I almost forgot. Gobber, where are you?" I said, looking around for the blacksmith. "Don't twist your undies, lassie." He said, approaching Hiccup, "I've got it. I've got it." He held out his hand and showed Hiccup a new tail for Toothless. "Welcome home." Gobber said, Hiccup smiled. "Who made this one?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. I pulled notes out of my vest, showing them to him. "I just stole your notes on how to make Toothless' tail. I didn't know what you would've like on it but you know, I made things work." I smiled and put the notes away in my vest again.

"Night Fury!" Someone called as Toothless jumped out of the house. "Get down!" Toothless had jumped on a fair number of Vikings and gave a soft bark. Hiccup smiled awkwardly. I looked at the other Vikings, "Oh, I see how it is." I said. "Shadow's out and it's no big deal. Toothless it out and it's a total disaster!" I was obviously joking.

Hiccup hooked up the new tail onto Toothless and got on, getting hmelf properly situated on him. The tail spread out and he smiled at me, "So, how about a race?" He asked. I held onto Shadow, "Don't start something you can't finish." I challenged. "We'll just see about that." He said, "Ready?" He asked Toothless who gave a nod to him in response.

Then we both flew off as fast as the dragons could take us, giving playful glares and smirks to each other from across our dragons. We flew over the docks; being joined by Astrid, under a bridge and accopmanied by Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins joined our sides out of nowhere.

Hiccup and I exchanged another smirk and flew upwards, away from the others. Both Night Furies let out an excited roar, Toothless spiraled and Shadow shot into the air. "Uh-oh." I said as we flew towards the flame.


	14. Chapter 14

Hiccup and I wandered through the streets after the long day that we had. I'd introduced him to everyone's dragon. Fishlegs had Meatlug, Astrid had Stormfly, Snotlout had Hookfang, and the twins had Barf and Belch. He shook his head as we were walking.

"It's still hard to believe that all of this has happened just because of us." He said. "We're an amazing team, you know?" I said to him, "Your brains and my brawn." I said and flexed an arm muscle, he shook his head. "You're pretty smart yourself. Within that one day you had learned all of Toothless' controls for his tail and it took me days." I looked at the ground, "That's because I was stalking you." He threw his head back, "When are you not?" He laughed and so did I.

"Can I have those notes back now?" I looked at him for a moment, trying to think about what he was asking for. "Oh!" I said, remembering and I reached into my vest and pulled out the notes for Toothless' tail. "Sorry about that." I said and he took them, putting them away. "No problem. Thanks, though. Toothless' new tail is great." He said. "Glad you like it." I said, "I was up all night working on it." Hiccup shook his head again, "You didn't have to do that." He said and I put a hand over his mouth, "You need to stop talking so much. Anyway, I wanted to." He pushed my hand away from his mouth, "Well, again, thanks."

"Hey, you two!" Stoic called, "We have a feast ready for you all!" My eyes flickered, now that I think about it, I am hungry. Hiccup laughed lightly, seeing the look on my face. "You'll never change, will you?" He asked, I gave him a huge grin, "Not in the least." He shook his head with a smile, "Fine, let's go feed you." He said with a gesture to the hall as we walked over to it.

"Me? You're the talking fishbone." I smirked, "You're the constantly starving one." "You're the burnette." "You're the blonde." I gasped, "Okay, I draw the line there." I said, pretending to be offended and he raised his eyebrows as if he was saying 'What are you going to do about it?' "You don't want to tangle with me _again_, do you?" I asked him, he playfully pushed my shoulder, "I kind of do." I pushed his head a little, "You'll regret it." "I'm the son of the cheif." "I'm the daughter of a psycho." He immediately stopped talking in a playful manner and became a little serious. He stopped walking, "Hold on a second." He said, I stopped. "What is it?"

"When you say that you're the daughter of a psycho what are you trying to imply? That you're crazy, too?" He asked, I looked at him strangely. "Kind of, yeah because I sort of am." I said, "Well, if that's the case then let me show you the difference between your craziness and your dad's." He said with a kind smile that knew more than it was letting off.

"People actually enjoy your craziness, your dad wasn't liked by anyone because of his. You're loyal and protective, he's abusive and a liar." He broke it down simply. "Understand where I'm coming from now?" He smiled. I actually thought about what he'd said then nodded. "I see." "Good, now my dad's probably going to freak when he sees that we aren't there yet and since we're teenagers he's probably not going to believe the 'just talking' bit." We'd both laughed and I crossed my arms as we continued on our way to the hall and on the third step, Hiccup almost tripped but I caught him and put him back on his feet. "You okay?" I asked, "Yeah, I'll be fine." He said and began to walk again.

Everyone and their dragon was there. Shadow was lying down at the foot of a completely empty table. He probably cleared it and Toothless sat next to him for a bit until he noticed that Hiccup and I had walked in. Shadow saw me and his tail wagged but he looked at the table and stopped wagging his tail and looked back at me expectantly. "I'm going to see Shadow, now." I told him and Hiccup nodded, "Go ahead." I smiled and walked over to him, his eyes lit up when I did.

I sat down and Shadow sat up, nudging the back of my head softly with his nose. "Yep, Shades. You're a good boy." I said, rubbing the sides of his head. "In my eyes, the best ever." He licked across my face, leaving it soaked with smily dragon saliva, also spiking up the sides of my hair a little. I laughed softly and wiped the saliva off of my face, "Yeah, I love you, too."

Hiccup and Toothless made their way over right then. Hiccup passed by the table. "I'll go get some food for us. I know you're not picky." He said. "Toothless, you stay with Al, okay?" Toothless walked over to the table and lied down on the opposite end of the table that I was on.

"Toothless, you like your new tail?" I asked, taking my mind off of Hiccup's leg. Toothless showed me his tail and waved it to me with a smile. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." I said and rubbed the top of his head. "I'm glad to see that." Toothless laid down next to Shadow with a deep trill and shut his eyes. Shadow looked down at him and softly rubbed his tail across the top of Toothless' head.

Hiccup came back not a moment later with two plates of fish, chicken, cabbage and carrots. "Dinner is served." He said, putting a plate in front of me then sitting down and taking a bite out of his own food. I pulled the fish up to my mouth and began to eat.

We'd finished our meal after a while; I'll be honest and say that I had three plates and Hiccup had one. Shadow had six large bowls and Toothless had four. Good thing that me and Shadow work out or else we'd be grounded and unable to fly.

"Have enough to eat, Al?" Hiccup laughed at me. My head was thrown back, "Yes. I'm stuffed like a turkey." I said and then I remembered how turkey's were stuffed. "Scratch that, let me rephrase; I'm full and happy." I said and Hiccup laughed more.

Shadow and Toothless were confused by the joke, I looked over at them "Well, you guys when you stuff a turkey you get stuffing and-" I said but I was cut off by Stoic coming over to us. "I'm proud of you. Both of you." He said then looked at my hands. I sometimes use hand gestures when I explain something and at this particular moment, Stoic saw me with two fingers wrapped around my wrist. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Explaining to the dragons how to stuff a turkey." I said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and the people in the tables near ours began to snicker, Hiccup tried to hide a smile.

"Nevermind." Stoic said, "Anyway, you two and the other teenagers were very brave during the defeat of the Green Death." He said, Shadow and Toothless gave him a look. "The dragons were, as well." He added, seeing the dragons look at him the way they did. Hiccup and I exchanged a smile because of this. "Enjoy tonight, you two." He said and walked away.

"That was an awkward moment for you, I bet." Hiccup said, mimicking my hand gesture when I was explaining how to stuff a turkey. "Shut up." I said.

The rest of the night was a bundle of laughs and a few teasing remarks but most of all, it was a time that we are all able to let go and be together in harmony with the same things that we were at war with not too long ago. It was peaceful, fun and exciting, and now I look forward to more days like this when I don't have to hide Shadow, secretly feed him, fly him or play with him. I bet Hiccup feels the same way about Toothless.

**Okay, guys, this was fun and I'd like to thank you for coming along on the ride. You don't have to worry about it being over, though! I'll continue my **_**How to Train Your Dragon**_** stories in the series **_**Dragons: Riders of Berk**_** and any **_**How to Train Your Dragon**_** specials that come on, for example; **_**Gift of the Night Fury**_** and **_**The Book of Dragons**_**. **

** Okay, you guys thanks again and I'm out. I love you guys!**


	15. The Original Chapter 12

**I have absolutely no idea why I didn't post this one in the first place but either way, I hope you guys enjoy!**

As we approached the island on our dragons, Shadow began jerking around every few seconds, it was like something was irritating him. I held onto him tight enough so I wouldn't be bucked off. "Shadow, what's the deal?" I asked and he jerked again, the force coming mostly from his backside. I looked back to see a small Terror on his hide. "Oh, it's you." I recognized her from the other day when I caught Hiccup and Toothless.

I pulled her off gently and showed Shadow, "Well, big boy, here's that Terror that chased you the other day." I teased and she licked the side of his face. He flicked an ear gently and let out a soft sigh. I pulled her back to me and held placed her on my shoulder, she was pretty calm with me, probably because I had Shadow's scent on me. Hiccup looked over and seemed to recognize the Terror as well since upon seeing her, he smiled.

We had suddenly turned at the broken mountain just to see the towering dragon that emerged from the nest. The same one that we'd seen the night before. It was about to breath out a surely devastating fire. "Al, now." Hiccup said, "Shoot." I said into Shadow's ear and he shot at the back of the large dragon's head.

"Nice shot." I complimented Shadow. We flew around the dragon and the Vikings stared at us in awe. "Look at us, we're on dragons!" Tuffnut shouted. "Fishlegs, break it down." Hiccup said. Fishlegs observed the dragon, "Okay, heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing, steer clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils; relies on hearing and smell." I smirked and felt Shadow begin to shiver with excitement. "Nice." I whispered.

"Okay; Nout, Legs, get in its blind spot, make noise and keep it confused. Ruff, Tuff; figure out its shot limit. Make it mad." Hiccup said. "That's my specialty." Ruffnut said, "Since when?" Tuffnut asked, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating, see?" He turned his Zippleback's head upside down and made blubbering noises. "Just do what I told you." Hiccup said.

"Al, come with me and Astrid. Shadow's going to have to keep a hold on his shots for now. Everyone else, I'll be back as soon as I can." He said and we began flying away. "Don't worry, we got it covered!" Snotlout said.

Shadow and I began searching through the boats again with Hiccup and Astrid then Hiccup found him, "There." He said and we began flying towards it. The Nadder hovered over the boat and Hiccup jumped off onto the boat. "Astrid, go help the others!" He called over the flames. Astrid obeyed and flew off.

"Let's try and get this off." He said and took a muzzle off of Toothless. "Shadow, Al. Help me out here." He said and began pulling on the wooden restraint around Toothless' neck. I reached over and began to pull on the restraint and Shadow wasn't sure how, he seemed afraid that he might hurt Toothless.

I had looked back to the large dragon and gently pulled the Terror off of my neck and said, "Hey, girl. I want you to do me a favor." She tilted her head, telling me that she was listening. "I want you to go over to that dragon, burn its eyes. Blind him if you can." I requested. She looked fearlessly at the large dragon and flew off as fast as her small wings could take her. "I believe in you." I whispered.

I was about to help Hiccup again as he tried picking up a wooden stake and cramming it in to break the restraint from the inside but the large dragon had thrown a fit about something and threw one of its paws down on the ship, sinking it. Toothless was still tied up and I began to swim down with Hiccup to try and get him loose again. Hiccup pulled on the chains for a moment then began to lose consiousness then I saw something snatch him away, Toothless gurgled a devastated roar.

I tried to rip the restraints off again but I felt something clamp onto the back of my clothes and bring me to shore. I looked back and saw Shadow, he looked back at the water where there was a splash and barely a moment later, Toothless came up out of the water and onto land, carrying Stoic in his paws and dropped him off on shore.

He shook the water off of himself then made a head gesture towards the large dragon, looking at Hiccup. "You got it, bud." He said and climbed on him. I quickly climbed onto Shadow's back and leaned over, ready for take off. The large dragon roared again. "Hiccup." Stoic stopped him and Hiccup glanced at me. "Al, go on without me." Hiccup said, "Of course. Let's go!" I said, understanding him and flying off on Shadow's back.

Shadow raced towards the large dragon and the teens, then we suddenly heard "He's up!" I looked back to make sure that they didn't mistake Shadow for Toothless and thank goodness, they didn't. "You two, get Snotlout out of there!" Astrid called to the twins. "Al, just come with me."

"Right." I said and kept Shadow close to her and the Nadder. Wait, she just used my nickname. It's usually just 'Hey, you' or something like that. What is she becoming comfortable with me or something?

I suddenly stopped Shadow when I saw the small, green Terror shooting fire wildly around two of the eyes on the large dragon, trying to blind him with fire as I asked. I flew towards her to catch her but the beast threw his head to the side and I saw her begin to fall. "Oh, no." I growled and Shadow flew to catch the small dragon but the large dragon turned his head again and shut his mouth where she was falling. "No!" I shouted and Shadow let out an ear-shattering, angry screech. We flew around his head and Shadow began to charge up but I saw something green and still moving in the dragon's teeth.

"Wait, Shadow." I said. "Sneek over to his mouth." He kept in the dragon's blind spot and we saw that the small Terror was fine, caught between a broken tooth tip. Wait, the size of the chipped tooth matches the tip that was in Shadow's side. "We'll get you out." I said and reached over to pull on her and she immediately came out with a single tug. "Let's go, Shades." I said, holding the Terror close.

Shadow flew away from the large dragon and gave me a questioning growl. I looked over the small Terror and saw one thing, her wing was slit. "Her wing is slit. It would heal in time but for now, let's try and keep her safe." I said and Shadow growled at the large dragon for hurting the small Terror.

Astrid came back around the dragon's head, "What are you doing?!" She shouted at me, worried. "The Terror, I had to help her." I said and she looked somewhat sympathetically at the little dragon. "Let's go." She said and we flew around the dragon's head and then it began inhaling deeply, sucking back Astrid and I along with the dragons. I saw a black figure not too far from us. "Hold on, Astrid!" I said, bracing myself. Shadow suddenly dashed upwards just as a Night Fury shot hit the giant dragon in the jaw.

I heard Astrid scream and looked down, she was falling. "Shadow, get her!" I said and he began to dive for her then we swooped and the screaming stopped. I looked under Shadow and saw that he grabbed her by her upper arms. "Hey, Astrid. How's it hanging?" I asked, Shadow looked down at her, too and gave a closed-mouth smile while making a soft trilling noise. She shook her head at me but smiled nonetheless.

"Okay, put her down gently." I said and Shadow flew slowly across the ground, letting her down gently. "Stay out of trouble." I said to her then thought of something, I reached over to the Terror and gave it to her. "Make sure she stays safe." I said and she nodded, "Okay, I've got her." She said. I gave a curt nod and Shadow zoomed off, flying towards Toothless and Hiccup who had passed us when we slowed down.

"Al, the dragon has wings. You think it can use them?" He asked. I examined the wings, "Probably could." "Okay. Now, I want you to hide in the clouds. Deep in them where it should be dark, almost like night." I saw where that was going. "Okay, if it doesn't work then I'll have Toothless call out for you guys to come back down." I nodded, "I understand. Let's go." Shadow quickly began to fly straight up into the air.

"Hide deep in the clouds." I repeated. "It should also be pretty thick considering the skies right now. It'll be on our advantage since I really doubt that that huge dragon can see in the dark, especially since Fishlegs broke it down saying that it relies on hearing and smell." I said it all out loud and Shadow turned to me with a smirk, he huffed a little in excitement.

Shadow and I hovered in place, waiting for a signal then one came. "Al, follow me." Hiccup said as him and Toothless flew past me. Shadow turned and kept in pace with them. "The big guy can fly then?" I asked and Hicucp nodded. "We got him following us, here he comes." He said, looking at a figure that kept getting larger until the gigantic dragon emerged from the thickness of the dark clouds.

It tried to look for us in the dark, moving its head slowly as it examined each and every movement made. It grew frustrated and let out a couple of roars and turned its back to us. "I'll fire first and after that, plan each shot carefully. If anything goes wrong I'll have Toothless call." Hiccup said softly. I nodded, "And we'll be there." I said.

"Toothless, shoot." He said then Toothless did as commanded. The shot hit the dragon in the back of the head then they flew past him. "Shadow, wait for him to turn around. Charge up for now." I said then the dragon slowly turned around. "Go." I said, Shadow sped for the face, shot it then swerved downwards.

A shot hit one of the wings on the huge dragon, Shadow began flying back up. "Shoot its underbelly." I said and Shadow shot it again then flew back into the clouds, we waited for a moment and Toothless shot the other wing, "Now, the neck." I said, Shadow charged up for a brief moment then shot. The gigantic dragon roared in frustration again and charged up a blast.

"Shadow, disappear." I said and he swerved into the clouds again. The fire was spiraling as was the dragon and Toothless called. "Shadow, go to Toothless." He twitched his ears a few times then began swooping, he called back. "Times up!" I heard Hiccup yell. "Fly behind the dragon so you don't get hurt and if anything goes wrong then you'll be able to get away easily." "Right." I called back and just then Hiccup flew Toothless right in front of the dragon's face, getting its full attention and began flying downwards. The large dragon followed so it didn't lose them again.

Shadow flew only yards from the large dragon's devastating tail. It began to make a hissing screech, it was charging up then I heard Hiccup yell "Now!" then there was the sound of a burst and the dragon quickly withdrew its wings and let out a roar of distress.

The huge dragon saw the ground below and spread his wings which strangely began to become full of growing holes that seemed to being burnt into them. Its wings obviously didn't work and I pat Shadow's head again, "Shoot the back of his head one last time." He obliged immediataly. The huge dragon had let out another roar upon contact of the last flame and again just before crashing into the ground and an explosion spread all across of its body, barely starting at its head.

I looked desperately for Hiccup and Toothless which sure enough, they began flying towards us. "Just a little farther." I whispered and right after I did Toothless' artificial tail broke off and they began to lose their balance then they saw the dragon's bashing tail.

"No, no, no!" Hiccup shouted and tried to fly Toothless into a different direction but it didn't work and Hiccup was knocked off of Toothless. He began falling, Toothless spun through the air, watching Hiccup and he let out a concerned bark, it seems then began to fly downwards. "Hiccup!" I shouted and the explosion began to reach for us, "Shadow, get out of here!" I said but when we turned around we had flown right into the tail. Shadow's balance was thrown off but I held on tight to a few of the spikes that jutted out from the tail. "I'll be fine. Help Toothless and Hiccup!" I shouted, Shadow seemed unsure. "Go!" I shouted harshly and he zoomed into the explosion that was slowly crawling up the tail. I can only hope that Toothless had saved Hiccup and was safe himself, Shadow should be fine because as far as I know, he's healthy in every way.

The slow explosion was only inches away from me and I shut my eyes, ready to meet my fate but I felt little claws and paws hold me from my arms, legs, back and hair. I opened my eyes and looked around, a bunch of Terrors, a few of which I remember from that day. If I had to guess how many there were, it'd be about 11. I laughed in disbelief and let out a 'whoo-hoo!'

They flew me away from the danger as fast as they could which was surprisingly fast. They began to descend, bringing me to the ground. Soon, we were only inches from it and I was able to place my feet down. The Terrors let go off me and all sat in front of me then the one with the slit wing walked over, sat in front of all of them and smiled at me with her chest puffed out. I knelt over and pet her head, "You were very brave. All of you." I said to the many Terrors who were obviously very proud of themselves.

A few of the teen Vikings rushed up to me, "Where's Hiccup?" "Where'd he go?" "Is he okay?" All of the questions surrounded me and Stoic stepped up between them, "Let her speak." He said softly and they calmed down almost immediately. "Well, what happened?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Hiccup and Toothless were flying and hit the dragon's tail, Hiccup was knocked unconsious and Toothless flew after him. They disappeared into the explosion. I sent Shadow after them to save them and I don't even know what happened to them." They put their heads down.

The ash and smoke began to clear a little. "I'll look for them now that it's clearing up a bit." Stoic jumped to the action as well, "And I'll help." He said and began searching. "Hiccup!" Stoic called. "Hiccup! Hiccup!" I called too, "Hiccup! Toothless!" The Terrors began to follow. They screeched and hissed to call for them. We looked all through the ash and finally saw a large black figure lying down.

We approached it and saw that it was both of the Night Furies. Their saddles had burns and tears in it from the fire, the fake half of Toothless' tail was gone and he rolled on his side with a soft groan. Stoic fell to his knees, "Oh, son." He said softly. "I did this." He said. I felt my heart drop. Shadow rubbed his nose against Toothless' head and softly purred, Toothless opened his eyes slowly and gave Shadow a confused expression. Shadow gave a sad smile when Toothless opened his eyes but frowned again when he saw that Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.

The other Vikings began approaching slowly but kept a far distance from Stoic, Toothless, Shadow and I. All of the Vikings and dragons seemed to be mourning. I stepped up to Toothless and placed a hand on the side of his head. "You two were amazing." I whispered softly, "You did your best." Toothless gave one very slow nod.

Stoic looked up at Toothless. "I'm so... I'm so sorry." He appologized. Toothless inspected Stoic's face and then mine and Shadow's, he seemed to understand. He rolled to the side a bit and opened his wings, showing Hiccup to us.

"Hiccup!" Stoic said softly and rushed to the dragon. He picked up his son and brushed hair out of his face a couple of times. He took off his helmet then put his head to Hiccup's chest. "Ha, he's alive." He said, "You brought him back alive."

Everyone released their breath and my heart began to beat again. Everyone cheered for Hiccup's life, Shadow smiled and turned his head upwards into the air, he let out a shot that exploded above us. Stoic placed his hand gently on Toothless' head, "Thank you for saving my son." He said. Gobber then walked over and said, "Well, you know, most of him." Stoic gave him a glare, I wondered what he was talking about and looked back at Hiccup, he was missing a leg.

I gasped at this. I hadn't expected that. I didn't know what to think. Shadow got up and walked over to me, he stroked the top of his head gently across my chin. I was so shocked with Hiccup's leg that I jumped when Shadow had touched me. I placed a hand on his head. He licked my face comfortingly and then had looked over to the small Terrors that sat behind me.

I turned to smile at the Terrors but shock was still firmly molded onto my face. I only fell back onto my butt and let out an exhausted sigh. "Wow." That's all I was able to say. The slit-winged Terror stepped up to me and tilted her head. I was finally able to snap out of it but for some reason, as soon as I did, I fainted.


End file.
